Snap shelves partner summit plans and asks employees to work from home

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has asked all employees to work from home and postponed the company’s planned partner summit, according to an internal memo seen by The Verge. The April 2nd event for Snapchat developers, advertisers, and creators had already been moved to an online-only presentation amid coronavirus fears, but now the event has been postponed altogether.

“We don’t feel like it would be appropriate to celebrate our partners in the midst of a global health crisis,” Spiegel writes. “I am so grateful for the tireless efforts and hard work of all of our team members working to make SPS possible — and I can’t wait to share all of the amazing things we have created when the time is right.”

Snap’s offices will remain open, despite most workers staying home; Spiegel says the company is “coordinating with team members in critical business functions who need to be in the office to ensure business continuity.” The move is designed to “create sufficient social distancing to protect our critical team members who continue working in our offices, while contributing to global efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

Several tech companies have been recommending that employees work from home with varying degrees of severity. Yesterday, Twitter mandated the practice for all workers worldwide.