To put things in perspective:

2002 - West Nile
2004 - SARS
2005 - Bird Flu
2009 - Swine flu
2014 - Ebola
2016 - Zika

Correct in some respects but we certainly curtailed corporate travel to Asia during SARS and West Africa during Ebola. This also isn’t as localized as those were, but the fear and hype is quite similar. From a risk perspective it makes sense to lessen the overall risk to your employee base if you can do so, some of that comes in to employee morale. A fearful employee needs reassurance that the employer is doing everything they can to act with respect to those concerns and would not want to unnecessarily place them, or their families, at risk.

Twitter just announced they are suspending non business travel and events, including South by Southwest.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...us/4927253002/

The effect of the virus will probably have more corporate decisions to limit travel. I originally posted this thread in the majors forum because I think it'll affect hiring.

UA initially stopped hiring, then made the decision to cancel the 3/3 class. My guess is they are anticipating more of a drop off as people cancel or postpone their trips from fear of the unknown.

Guy from my gym said his company cancelled their Vegas convention with two days notice. Spitballing what he said for numbers, but it was in the 2+ thousand employees range.

There are many versions of an old saying, but they all boil down to this:

Whenever times are good, the ultimate thing a successful company needs is a company jet. Then when business drops off, the first thing to go is the jet.

Today you can swap 'Company Jet' out for Conventions in Vegas, Team Building experiences in Vail, junkets, and anything else when one spouse tells the other, "Honey, I'll be working so hard I'll never have time to play. By the way, where are my golf clubs?"

The only difference this time it is a medical reason vice economic reason to ditch unneeded flying.