Shopify is giving its employees $1,000 to furnish their work-from-home setups with whatever gear they need because of the coronavirus

Tobias Lütke shopify

Employees at Shopify, the e-commerce platform, are among hundreds of thousands who have been ordered to work from home amid efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
A source familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Shopify has given its employees $1,000 each to furnish their home set-ups with whatever equipment needed to work remotely.
Employees were also told they are allowed to take home any office equipment, including computer monitors, they need to do their jobs.
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Employees of e-commerce platform Shopify are getting $1,000 each to buy what they need to work from home amid growing efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Shopify has directed all employees — who total more than 5,000 people in 11 different countries — to work from home starting March 16. According to a source familiar with the matter, the e-commerce platform has given each of its employees a stipend to pay for any office equipment they need to set up a workspace for remote work.

More and more employees around the world have been ordered to work from home as COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, continues to spread. More than 125,000 people have now tested positive for the disease, which the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic Wednesday.

Shopify, a Canada-based company, announced Wednesday on Twitter that its employees would work from home starting March 16 to "play a part in reducing the spread of the virus."

Spotify did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. It's unclear if whether the $1,000 amount is a bonus employees will see in their paychecks, or whether workers will need to expense the items they purchase.

The person familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Shopify employees are also allowed to bring home whatever equipment they need to take from the office in order to do their jobs remotely.

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Shopify is not alone among major tech companies in telling employees to work remotely. Business Insider reported Wednesday that Google has now recommended nearly all of its 100,000 employees worldwide work from home. Spotify, the Sweden-based music streaming platform, has instructed its employees to work remotely for at least two weeks. Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter have all asked their employees in the Seattle and Silicon Valley areas to do the same.

Major events that bring together hoards and crowds have been canceled around the world. Massive tech conferences like Mobile World Congress and SXSW been nixed. President Trump also announced Wednesday night that all travel to the US from Europe, except for the UK, would be suspended for the next 30 days.

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