Coronavirus: Facebook to give $1,000 bonus to every employee to help them work remotely

Facebook Inc is all set to give all its employees $1000 bonus to help them work remotely because of the Coronavirus outbreak. According to the reports, the decision was first announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an internal memo on March 17. Almost 45000 employees will reportedly get an 'exceeds' rating for their first six-month review of 2020.

Unlike other Silicon Valley companies, Facebook has reportedly asked its Seattle and Bay Area employees to work from home. In a big statement, the CEO announced that Facebook has committed $20 million to fight the Coronavirus outbreak that hit nations globally.

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"Solidarity Response Fund''

In a post on Facebook, the founder of the social networking giant announced that he was working in collaboration with United Nations Foundation and the World Health Organization to start a COVID-19 "Solidarity Response Fund", to which anyone could make a donation.

Facebook has reportedly shut down its Seattle office in the US after a contractor was tested positive for the Coronavirus. It asked the employees to work from home until the end of the month as directed by the health officials. The office is expected to remain closed for at least a week, confirmed international media report.

According to the reports, Facebook revealed that the infected worker was last seen at the Stadium East facility on February 21. It said that its employees were notified, and the company was following strict public health safety protocols to prioritize everyone’s health and safety.

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USD 20 million for Solidarity fund

International reports revealed that apart from Facebook, Google and Amazon employees also contracted the strain of the disease elevating health concerns. A spokesperson for Amazon told the media that an employee had been affected, and the company was fully supporting the affected person. It said that the patient had been quarantined.  The spokeswoman confirmed that all the co-workers in contact with the affected employee, who worked at Amazon's South Lake Union office complex in Seattle, had been informed.

The company informed that two of its employees in Milan had also been infected with COVID-19 and were under mandatory quarantine. Mark Zuckerberg stated that out of the USD 20 million fund, USD 10 million would go to the UNF and WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the other USD 10 million would go to the CDC Foundation which will launch a Facebook Fundraiser in the coming weeks.

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