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These Companies are Adopting the Work from Home Method in the Wake of Coronavirus Pandemic
With social distancing policies and banning of public gatherings gradually taking full effect, organizations are starting to adopt work from home options to continue the running of their business. It’s a reality that may yet play out broadly in Lagos, which has already shut down schools and banned public gatherings of more than 50 people.
Nigeria currently has 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country and has taken measures such as closing its international airport, banning entry from 15 high-risked coronavirus countries, shutting down schools as well as banning of public gathering that are more than 20 in Lagos.
BellaNaija: BellaNaija has since Wednesday, March 18, implemented a work from home directive. CEO Uche Pedro shared this on her Instagram, writing:
When we started 2020 with our vision board session, we could never had imagined the way the world would turn.
While we have made decisions to work from home for the well-being of our team, we are now focused on sharing accurate information on important developments as well as sending positive vibes your way with uplifting content in the midst of all that’s happening.
I know many people and businesses are scared about the impact of everything that’s happening. Alongside being thorough and precautious, I’m embracing hope and faith. Things will get better if we all work together. As my mum says, “Where there is life, there is hope”. I’ll be sharing a few links to useful articles and resources via my insta story. Sending love, light and prayers ?? to everyone.
Wash your hands and stay “socially distant” and best of all, stay at home if you can.
Paystack: The payment platform announced they will be working from home going forward. An announcement was made on the company’s blog which included a plan to serve customers.
As the situation regarding COVID-19 evolves, we wanted to take a moment to share how we intend to continue providing exceptional service to you, while ensuring the safety of employees and customers. Many members of the Paystack team already work remotely, and our internal tooling and processes are highly optimized for distributed work. What this means is that we’re able to transition seamlessly to a fully remote team with no impact on the quality of service.
Union Bank is one of the old generation and leading banks in Nigeria and it has asked its workers to work from home indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bank made the announcement on Twitter:
The health and safety of our employees and the larger community is of the utmost importance during this critical time. Starting, March 23rd, Union Bank is activating remote work for all its employees except critical functions in our operations and service teams. Employees will work from home until further notice.
We are committed to providing the highest level of customer service to our customers while doing our part to help fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The bank is the first bank to announce that its employees will work remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Besides Union Bank, other businesses that have close shops include Carbon, Kuda, Andela, Fint, BuyCoins Africa among others.
Popular credit-tech company Carbon is also one of the few companies in Nigeria that have resorted to working from home. The announcement read:
Along with the rest of the world, we’re concerned about the rapid spread of the #COVID19 pandemic, and so we’re making some important changes to our operations, related to Telephone Customer support and Money bag Loan offers.
MTN, on Monday, also shared that most of its employees will be working from home. The stores that will remain open will operate reduced hours, they shared.
— MTN Nigeria (@MTNNG) March 22, 2020
Eko Hotel & Suites
The Eko Hotel & Suites, too, shared that parts of their hotel, their restaurants, and their bars, too, will be shut to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. They shared that part of the Eko Signature and Eko Hotel, with Kuramo Sports Cafe, Calabash Bar and others will remain open.
Several restaurants and cafes, too, have decided to temporarily shut down to stall the spread of the coronavirus. Places like The Harvest, Nok by Alara, Tarragon Lagos, Cocoon, Bottles, and La Taverna have all decided to temporarily close.
RED Media: RED Media, too, has issued a work from home directive to its staff, imploring them all to stay safe. They wrote on their Instagram:
It starts with you.
It starts with us.
There’s no RED without #HumansofRED
Let’s all stay safe.
The folks at Property Pro, too, have shared that most non-essential workers will be working from home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. They wrote on their Twitter:
For the next few weeks, Most non essential workers would be working from home and their respective spaces. To stop/avoid the spread of Covid 19.
Guys! It’s important, like all these companies, that we take social distancing very seriously, and not go out except we absolutely have to.
