Telecommuting, the permanent option of flexibility and work reconciliation offered by new technologies, has gone from being this morning a minority option in the corporate headquarters of large companies in Madrid of the Ibex to the contrary.

Telefónica, BBVA, Bankia, Mapfre, Ferrovial, Santander ... They have launched this morning protocols that affect tens of thousands of workers so they can connect from home or, for those who must go to the work centers to fulfill critical functions, prevention measures such as open doors to avoid contagion by contact in the doorknobs or disinfectant gels in biometric accesses.

Telecommuting, which according to the recruitment multinational Adecco, has only been tested by 8% of Spanish employees (1.5 million) will be a reality for many more in the coming days, forced at the moment by the closure of kindergartens, schools and universities decreed yesterday in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, in Vitoria and also in the small town of Labastida , in Rioja alavesa-

Large companies such as Santander, Bankia, BBVA, Ferrovial or Santander have launched this morning the protocols they had already planned. They have discriminated functions, they have treated casuistry as risk groups or family situations and have recommended work from home. In certain cases, special equipment and connections have been installed at the employees' homes. This has been done by Telefónica with the more than 10,000 workers it has in the district of Las Tablas or neighboring BBVA at its headquarters in La Vela. Santander also in its Financial City of Boadilla del Monte or Ferrovial in its corporate headquarters. Organizations such as UGT have also separated the teams from their legal services to ensure continuity of work.

The Bank of Spain has also joined the preventive measures.

Another thing is SMEs, which make up more than 90% of the productive fabric in the community of Madrid and that in many cases offer face-to-face service to the public. "The magic does not exist, you can not improvise in a sudden way for all types of companies and activities," explains Diego Barceló, researcher of Adecco . "There are sectors such as agriculture, transport, logistics or commerce with attention to the public that cannot be enhanced at a distance and if telecommuting were the panacea from an operational and labor cost point of view, large companies would have already put it underway, "he adds.

"The hospitality industry is a sector that occupies a lot of people in Madrid and is mostly composed of SMEs that are either forced to face work or have fewer technological resources," he says. This morning, in the center of Madrid, hotel supply stores supplied merchants and bar and restaurant owners with prophylactic gloves and disinfectant gels to make available to customers. Owners also trained their employees on service protocols.

As a prevention, financial institutions have strengthened their digital services due to the possibility that due to lack of personnel that must remain at home or for some positive case that has already occurred, they have to close branches of the network . In this case, it is not only that the work is carried out remotely but that the demand for services is also carried out through digital channels . In the case of a company like Ferrovial, which in addition to construction employs thousands of people in all kinds of services including hospitals, telecommuting is an option only for certain employees. "In each area a protocol is followed and in the case of activities that require physical presence, adapted prevention measures are taken, the greater the risk," they explain in the company.

The Bank of Spain has also joined the preventive measures. "In application of its business continuity plan, it has been recommended to all employees whose work does not require physical presence in the different headquarters of the institution to continue the development of their tasks from their homes," said the agency.

The difficulties of SMEs to adapt in 24 hours to the new health alarm and the consequences on temporary employment , which depends on the planned activity, are the big questions that the experts are asking themselves. The closure of schools leaves in the air jobs related to dining rooms or cleaning the centers, for example. With regard to mobility restrictions, the air sector fears an impact on temporary contracting in airports and land services although, according to Jon Herrera, of CCOO, there has been no warning by companies due to falling reserves. "We are in permanent contact," he says.

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  • Telefonica
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  • Madrid's community
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