Google moves ALL job interviews to Hangouts over coronavirus concerns

Google has reportedly ended all in-person job interviews over coronavirus fears, with the everything giant moving its job interviews through Hangouts.

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The company has told potential candidates that all interviews will be done through video calls "for the forseeable future", after it restricted employee travel after a Google employee at its Switzerland office was tested positive for COVID-19. This is a big move by a big company, and with no end in sight for coronavirus / COVID-19 and its spread across the globe, it is worrying.

The Verge reports it has seen an email from Google staff, which read: "In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect our candidates' and interviewers' health and wellbeing, we will be conducting all Google interviews globally virtually via Google Hangout (or BlueJeans for applicable countries) for the foreseeable future".

Read More: Coronavirus / COVID-19

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New York Governor Cuomo has established a 1-mile containment zone in New Rochelle over the spread of coronavirus / COVID-19 in New York, while Google has recently asked all staff based in Canada or the United States to work from home if they can. Apple has just canceled an event where it was due to unveil a successor to the iPhone SE, and a new iPad, too.

Delivery start ups including Postmates have now got a "non-contact delivery option" for those who are worried about contracting coronavirus, too.

We've seen some gigantic events being canceled or postponed over coronavirus / COVID-19 fears, with Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference, Google I/O, Facebook's F8 developer conference -- and even chatter from Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, with the IOC talking about outright canceling the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Google has also ended all of its in-person job interviews for now over coronavirus fears, instead shifting to a digital-only Hangouts meeting for future employees. Twitter is also "strongly encouraging" its employees to work from home if possible, while Amazon has halted its near 800,000 strong workforce from all non-essential travel over coronavirus / COVID-19 fears.

But don't worry, gamers... as AMD has confirmed that the next-gen Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 launches are "on track" for later this year and that coronavirus hasn't forced a delay for these launches (yet).

You can read more on our coverage of coronavirus here.