Working Remotely Is Suddenly The Norm


Microsoft, Amazon Advise Staff to Work From Home as Coronavirus Spreads, Facebook Contractor Confirmed Infected

Though COVID-19 is ultimately going to affect everybody, this particular outbreak, the first significant one in the US, has had a particular impact on me -- though I'm not aware of anyone I know having caught it.
A few years ago my wife and I took a vacation in Hawaii (on the Big Island) with family. We discovered her breathing was easier. We took a second trip to test it, and confirmed that she felt better on the island, worse again in the Seattle area ("east side", to locals). So we set out to make it permanent. We bought a house on the island a couple years ago, got our Seattle-area house sold last year.
But I had to maintain a presence in Seattle for the sake of my employer Amazon, who were cautious about granting me broad approval to work remotely. I was permitted to do that for one week per month at first, then two. I got an apartment in downtown Seattle and would fly back and forth every two or three weeks.
Just a few weeks ago, the company granted me permission to go full-time remote, with just a few visits to Seattle each year. My plan now is to move out of the apartment by the end of April. Meantime, I had counted on a couple more trips back and forth. As I write this, I'm at the house with Susan. My next flight to Seattle was to happen Saturday.
COVID-19 has thrown this schedule into doubt. Though I'm fairly healthy myself, Susan can't say the same. It would be a stupid risk to travel straight to the area of the US where the rate of infection is likely the highest. I might not be allowed to return, or if I were, might unknowingly bring the virus back with me.
I canceled this weekend's flight, and don't yet have a revised travel date. It'll depend how the country's response to the outbreak unfolds. Of course, at a time like this, having someone honest and thoughtful directing that response from the White House is what we need, but that's the opposite of who we've got.
Meanwhile, my employer has asked everybody to work remotely in accord with King County recommendations. It used to be just me, the oddball on the team appearing only on their monitors. Today I attended a larger meeting in which the conference room was nearly empty; everybody is calling in from their home.
Seattle happens to have a lot of tech companies. Software developers can work remotely. What about the neighborhood restaurants and food trucks that usually feed the techies? Even if they stay healthy, those employees and small business owners will feel effects from this. How wide will this thing's impact ultimately be? Nobody can say, yet. We're all playing it by ear for now.

Original Facebook post

Location: Waikoloa Village, HI, USA

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