Swine flu puts Hyderabad IT companies on high alert

Sharang Limaye, Hyderabad
Financial Chronicle
Even as Hyderabad grapples with the spurt in swine flu cases, IT companies in the city find themselves to be the most vulnerable to the deadly virus. With Google shutting down one of its offices after an employee was confirmed to have the H1N1 virus, other major global IT companies are taking extra precautions to educate their workforces about the disease.

Several big names in the IT industry such as Microsoft, Computer Associates (CA), Dell and IBM have major operations in Hyderabad. These companies find themselves all the more susceptible to a swine flu attack, as they host a large number of visitors from the US and the South East Asian region. “We do get a lot of guests from the affected regions. Hence, we have to be extra careful,” Bipin Pendyla, VP and site manager, CA India Technology Centre said.

The company has asked its employees to be alert to swine flu symptoms and to take immediate medical help if they notice any. “We have also asked them to stay away from anyone suspected to be infected with the H1N1 virus,” Pendyla said.

Microsoft, which operates one of its largest development centres in Hyderabad, has sent out advisories and emails about the swine flu to its employees. The mails essentially talk about the dos and don’ts to be followed to prevent the dreaded disease, a spokes-person said.

MindTree said that there had been no impact on any of its projects at the Hyderabad office following the detection of one case of swine flu. A MindTree employee in the city was tested positive for swine flu on Monday. “Along with the medical authorities, Mind-Tree has taken several measures to arrest any possible spread among other MindTree Minds. During the last 3 days, doctors have conducted awareness workshops for MindTree Minds in the Hyderabad office,” a statement said.

Broadridge, a global financial solutions company, has initiated an awareness campaign amongst its staffers about the virus. “The most effective way has been emails and instructions on how to deal with hygiene and updates from WHO,” said Rajita Singh, HR head.

Even smaller city-based companies, who have to deal with foreign clients, don’t want to take any chances. Says Ramesh Lognathan, MD and VP (products) Progress Software, “Given the incidents in Hyderabad this week, we have taken some additional measures. Proactively, apart from creating the awareness on swine flu precautions amongst employees through posters and emails, we have also placed hand-sanitizers all over the office and strongly encouraged employees to use it as often as possible."