Coinbase planning and response to COVID-2019
We’ve made our latest coronavirus planning materials available below and will be updating it regularly to give our customers, other global businesses, and the broader crypto community as much information as we can to help with decision-making.
Notes:
We will update this blog with additional communications and context as the situation progresses.
We’re sharing these externally in case helpful to other companies. If you have helpful/constructive comments, feel free to send our way on Twitter, @coinbase.
Shoutout to our incredible security and comms teams for proactively addressing this. If you’re interested in working at Coinbase check out our careers page. This is one small example of the work product of these teams.
May 5, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Tl;dr:
De-escalation in Coinbase offices from Tier 3 to Tier 0 will be incremental, just like escalation was
We expect some offices to move to Tier 2 (essential employees in-office only) in the next few months, but
No office will return to Tier 0 (BAU) before January 1, 2021
As someone recently noted on Slack, in a moment when so much is ambiguous, any move toward certainty feels welcome. So today, even though there are many unknowns (and many variables out of our control), we’re sharing our high-level de-escalation plan and some decisions we’ve made around when we’ll return to “normal” in-office expectations.
Employee safety is the main priority of our de-escalation plan. To that end, our intent is to be slow and careful about actions that dictate how you must act (e.g. requiring a return to the office), while being quick, nimble and educational in rolling out options for how you may act (e.g. optional use of an office).
This situation will remain fluid for months. And because the situation is still so fluid, our de-escalation plan will not be one-size-fits-all, will occur in phases and may go both up and down — in other words, the path back to “normal” for our SF office will likely be very different than the path for our New York or Tokyo offices and it may not be in a straight line.
You can see the de-escalation plan below. A few highlights to call out:
The current draft of our de-escalation plan is based on a tier system, just like our initial response plan.
Decisions about when to move an office from one tier to another will be guided by pre-defined trigger events (i.e., whether local schools have reopened, whether the doubling time of the virus has dropped below N days, etc.), as well as the broader situation in each office’s geographic area.
All decisions about moving an office from one tier to another will be announced well in advance.
We’re currently working on details about potential social distancing measures for inside our offices (i.e, no more than X people on a given floor, no more than Y people in a conference room, a minimum of Z feet between occupied desks, etc.), but this decision will very likely be somewhat dictated by unique requirements imposed on each office by local health authorities.
We’re planning for potential secondary infection peaks, so we’ll be prepared to move offices back up the tier scale if needed.
Finally, many of you have asked for a “no earlier than” date for Tier 0 — the soonest possible date we can imagine returning to something that looks like “business as usual,” so you can plan appropriately. (Remember, Tier 1 is optional WFH for all employees; Tier 2 is WFH for all but essential employees or those with untenable WFH situations; Tier 3 is all employees WFH.)
Other companies have set these dates, but they may be early enough that they’ll need to be adjusted again and again, creating a cycle of false expectations and probably, some amount of mental exhaustion. But we understand the need for some kind of certainty, even if it’s an educated guess, so we’ve done our best to estimate what this looks like for Coinbase.
Based on what we’re seeing around the world and in the U.S., we are confident that no Coinbase office will return to Tier 0 before January 1, 2021. Please be aware this date could move out even further, depending on the progression of the pandemic, and the effectiveness of mitigating factors like social distancing and treatments for COVID-19. We don’t want you to artificially anchor to this date. But we do want you to be able to plan for your lives so you can take care of your family, and create the best possible working environment for yourselves during this time.
If you choose to travel to stay with family (or for any reason, if you add people to/join a new “household), we strongly encourage you to self-quarantine after your arrival. Having you arrive and bringing COVID-19 with you would be a really bad outcome, so if you’re going this route, the safest thing will be to stick to yourself in a room for two weeks after you arrive.
Additionally, if you plan to relocate until January 1, please be mindful of the residency laws in that area. Depending on how many days (sequential or cumulative) you spend in some places, you can accidentally end up a technical resident, which has tax implications. Please consult your tax professional on how this might impact you.
As always, we’ll share more information (e.g., about moving down our escalation framework) as we have it. If you have any questions in the meantime, let us know in #ask-coronavirus.
May 5, 2020 The Path to De-escalation
General context
The following is a work-in-progress document. It is reflective of our current thinking, but will certainly continue to evolve in ways large and small.
The path we take to de-escalation will differ from the one we took while escalating. We learned a number of lessons on our way into our current state that we want to take into account as we back out. There will be similarities, however. In particular, we will retain the tier structure and pre-calculated trigger events (although acknowledging that the triggers are examples and we may choose to move between tiers for other reasons, based on the totality of the circumstances).
As with the escalation plan, we should continue to treat WFH as just one of many tools available for us to use. We should remember that, while going up the ladder, we moved up incrementally rather than climbing up in large jumps. We anticipate a similar situation as we de-escalate, including the possibility of different offices moving down the ladder at different speeds. Triggers are defined here to act as general guidelines — not set in stone. The Crisis Management Team will make recommendations based on the totality of circumstances. We may also see the pandemic shrink and grow over time, so we must be ready to adjust our risk posture up and down accordingly.
Moving from Tier 3 to 2
Principle: As soon as we are legally able, we should let people with untenable WFH situations use the office.
Example Triggers
Shelter-in-place restrictions lifted to allow general business operations for substantially all businesses (may be some lingering restrictions like density reductions, public transport limits, etc)
Actions
WFH Recommended if tenable, work in the office only allowed with Manager +1 and only for a defined list of reasons
Resume office snack/food service, cleaning, porters, etc., scaled to occupancy
Food service in pre-boxed sets, delivered to each floor. No central served food
No shared open snacks (e.g. no cereal in boxes, candies in bowls, etc.)
No external visitors (including recruiting, social gatherings, business meetings w/external parties) unless we have a visitor health screening program in place at the office in question
Exception: With a lobby screening program for all visitors, onsite business critical recruiting allowed (may be restricted to a specific area)
No company sponsored social or recruiting events, and no team offsites/onsite meetings
Office density reduction requirements will likely depend on local public health department requirements.
Minimally we will ensure that occupied desks provide for at least 6ft of separation
~1/4 capacity in a meeting room (4 max in our largest 16-seat rooms and maybe 2 people in our 7 person rooms)
6 feet of separation when walking in the office (some offices may need walking paths converted to 1-way)
Business travel is limited to Business Critical Only and requires per-trip risk review from Security and +1 from the relevant VP or higher (post risk review). Travel will result in a mandatory 14-day WFH period if the person would otherwise come into an office.
This quarantine requirement may be replaced by testing requirement once availability is there.
Complete full building deep clean/sanitization before employees return to office.
Increased cleaning of high traffic/high touch point areas throughout the day and full wipe down each night
Weekly full office cleaning (vacuuming, wipe down, mopping)
Resume engagement on build projects with Coinbase build team and vendor access on floors with construction to be scheduled. Likely to be limited but some construction teams will want to return to work ASAP.
PPE Requirements: Coinbase will provide masks.
Moving from Tier 2 to 1
Principle: As low risk groups emerge (may be regional based on transmission rates; may be individual based on exposure or other individual characteristics) but the overall community situation has not materially changed (e.g. school has not yet resumed, no vaccine, etc.) we should open up the office for anyone in those groups who wants to be in the office.
Example Triggers
Regional availability of effective therapeutics
Regional antibody testing and good understanding of level of immunity acquired post-infection
New research identifies populations that have flu-level outcomes or better (will likely require research into risk factors for severe/critical cases of COVID-19 combined with research into long-term health impacts of mild cases)
Actions
Optional WFH for all employees, subject to their risk level
All employees can work from home if they want to, but if employees in low-risk groups prefer to be in the office, we are no longer requiring specific justification to be there.
We may need to impose a headcount cap on a per office basis, based on local public health rules. If the number of people who want to be in the office exceeds the number allowed, we’ll need to implement an office sharing system (e.g. dividing the population in two and having each team be able to be in the office for alternating weeks).
Mobilize on build projects
Office services unchanged from previous tier
Business travel generally allowed, but requires a risk review as per the previous tier. Travel may be broadly allowed between certain low risk areas based on generic risk reviews. Travel may result in a mandatory 14-day WFH period.
Only with a lobby screening program for visitors: Onsite Recruiting allowed; Onsite business meetings allowed
Without a lobby screening program: Onsite recruiting allowed only for local recruits; Onsite *business critical* meetings allowed, only for local business partners
Tier 1 to 0
Principle: Once we’ve returned broadly to normal, including the broad resumption of schools and general medical care, we should return to business as usual (which may not be the same thing as when the crisis started).
Example Triggers
An effective vaccine is available at scale
Actions
Resume full service in office (including self-serve food and snacks)
Move cleaning schedule back to pre-COVID standards
Travel unrestricted
Visitors unrestricted
Mar 23, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
Oregon has been ordered to shelter in place; therefore, Portland has been added to the list of offices at Tier 3
The UK has now issued “stay at home” order for at least the next three weeks. London was already at tier 3, and we’re now moving the Dublin office to tier 3 as well.
We will now only send emails for need-to-know, urgent information, and transition to a micro-blog to regularly share less-urgent updates
Today, we saw two new shelter in place / stay at home orders:
Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued a shelter-in-place order for the state, so we will be moving our Portland office to Tier 3, effective tomorrow, making work from home mandatory. A reminder that we have a policy around reimbursing tools to help make you productive at home, and you’re welcome to reach out to accomodations@ for further support.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued stay at home orders for all Britons, stopping large gatherings, and closing shops and playgrounds at least through the next three weeks. Our London office is already at Tier 3, so all employees there are already working from home. Dublin will now also move from Tier 2 to Tier 3.
Secondly, now that we have largely transitioned into a “new normal” for now, we’re going to hit pause on these regular emails, unless there is need-to-know, urgent information to share (we want to make sure you actually READ these when we send them). Instead, we’ll be taking this week to stand up a micro-blog where I’ll share less-urgent top-of-mind thoughts on this stuff (you can expect to see posts on topics like testing, noteworthy peer-reviewed studies, and more) that you can opt into reading. Link to come soon — we’ll share it in #ask-coronavirus and #coinbase when it’s ready.
As always, toss us questions in #ask-coronavirus.
Mar 20, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
New York and California are now both under “shelter in place” orders; accordingly, we have moved New York to Tier 3, effective Monday: mandatory wfh for all employees. Portland is still at Tier 2, but employees should be prepared for a similar shelter in place order (and escalation to Tier 3).
Yesterday we moved from allowing only essential travel to banning all business travel; all of our business travelers are now home or on their way home
We expect to see a rise in misinformation and scams; please consume news and information critically
Testing is expanding (slowly) around the globe, and we are getting a better and better picture of the true spread of COVID-19
You’re all doing great — please keep it up
What’s changed since Monday
Active shelter in place orders
Yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a “shelter in place” order for the state of New York, beginning Sunday night. Because of this, we will be moving our New York office to Tier 3. Earlier this week, we moved London and San Francisco to Tier 3. Portland seems to be contemplating a similar order.
Travel becoming riskier
In light of the recent U.S. State Department level 4 travel advisory, and the decreasing amount of international transportation, we have banned all work travel globally. All business travelers are now home or on their way there. If you are on personal travel, we strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible or plan to be where you are indefinitely. If you have questions, or need a hand with navigating changes to in-progress personal travel, please reach out in #ask-coronavirus, and someone will DM you.
Scams and rumors increasing
As expected, we’re seeing more scams and misinformation pop up about coronavirus, COVID-19, treatments, testing and government actions. I want to encourage you to consume news and information critically
A few reminders worth repeating
Shelter in place doesn’t mean ignore self-care
Get up at the same time each day. Get dressed. Remember to exercise. Eat real food. See the sunlight (as an aside, you very well might already have a Vitamin D deficiency (1,2) and social distancing won’t help. Get outside. Eat some fatty fish.). Try to continue to socialize at a distance (video calls, online games, etc.).
Social distancing means distance
Both NY and CA shelter in place orders allow for outdoor exercise and walks, as long as people keep at least six feet of distance between them. Please remember that social distancing is pointless if you’re still socializing at close proximity — feel free to remind your families and friends of this as well.
Just because you have a cough, a runny nose, or a fever does not mean you necessarily have COVID-19. There’s a pretty good chance you have a cold, flu, or allergies (we’re in high season for all of these right now). That said, it’s always a good idea to stay indoors and take care of yourself when you’re experiencing symptoms, especially because you want to give your immune system the best chance to fight off COVID-19 if you do contract it.
That said, if you are experiencing the three most common symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, dry cough, shortness of breath), you should call your physician and follow their direction.
Go on a digital diet
There is a huge amount of new information every day about this crisis. I want to encourage you to go on a digital diet: Limit your consumption of news (both formal and from sources like Twitter), focus on facts, not conjecture, and remember to disengage (literally close your computer, consider deleting the Twitter app from your phone, etc.).
What to expect over the next few weeks
Testing will ramp up
We are expecting to see a very large spike in the number of confirmed cases, especially in the US. Some of this will be caused by the continued spread of the virus, however a massive factor is also the rapidly increasing number of tests being administered. Be prepared to see big numbers in headlines as the media/social media latch on to that story. Do your best to contextualize this and be mentally prepared.
More National Guard Activations
Several States have or are about to activate National Guard soldiers. This is reassuring to see. The mission of these soldiers is to provide food distribution, ensure resiliency of supply lines, assist with hospital and testing operations, train critical staff on biological protection techniques, and provide additional equipment and resources to local governments who otherwise wouldn’t have these capabilities. It is important to remember that National Guard soldiers are members of your local community, not some foreign occupying force. You normally ride the train and walk beside them each day, they just usually don’t have their uniforms on.
Expansion and extension of shelter in place orders
It seems that more and more jurisdictions are taking this pandemic seriously enough to take significant action, and it’s likely that we’ll see “shelter in place” orders expand to more areas. This is a good thing, but the unsettling reality is that we simply don’t know how long this kind of required action will last. I wish I could confidently share an end date for these restrictions with you, but it’s just impossible to say at this moment. It’s also possible (even likely) that we’ll see some of the shelter in place orders extended as we continue to map and fight the spread of COVID-19.
More travel restrictions
We are likely to see continued restrictions on air travel both internationally and domestically. We may also see enforcement of the shelter in place orders ramp up if there is not enough voluntary compliance.
In closing
I want to recognize not only the teams that are working hard to provide the back-end services and support to keep us productive from home (Security, IT, Comms, Travel, Procurement, Workplace, Benefits, People…) but also every one of you for making an impressive transition from working from an office to working from home. Whether you and your team had to make a big pivot to ensure business continuity (looking at you, CX and Talent), or you’re simply continuing to do great work, get shit done, and doing your best to not get distracted by the news, we see you. Thank you. Keep it up.
Finally, a light spot to end on: Over the last few days, we successfully donated 1,000+ of our own N95 masks to Bay Area hospitals, and this incentivized a bunch of hospitals to figure out their protocols for safely accepting donations. We’re thrilled and proud to be able to help frontline healthcare workers, even in a small way.
Have a good weekend all. Stay inside, stay safe, stay sane.
Mar 16, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hi all,
Tl;dr:
Starting tonight at midnight, for the next three weeks, six Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, will be directed to “shelter in place,” with only essential businesses and services remaining open, and all residents asked to stay in their homes as much as possible.
This means San Francisco is now at Tier 3: mandatory WFH for all employees.
Tokyo, New York, Dublin, and London are being moved to Tier 2, based on the number of cases and government actions we are seeing.
If you travel anywhere outside of your immediate area for business or personal reasons (read: by planes, trains or automobiles etc.) — including traveling to be with family during this time — we advise you to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival.
We are in the process of creating a space in our coronavirus wiki where we’ll debunk/confirm/comment on viral rumors. For now, please be mindful of the spread of misinformation.
During this WFH moment, it is tempting to play with new technologies to see what works. We don’t want to get in the way of what works for you and your team, but want to remind you that services that handle Coinbase data (that includes things like video meetings, whiteboarding tools, etc) must pass through our vendor review process prior to use.
Please take care of yourselves, your families and your community.
What’s changed since Friday
San Francisco:
We know Coinbase employees are all over the world, but the biggest update we have today impacts the San Francisco office, so starting there: As many of you will have seen by now, six counties across the Bay Area are directing all residents to “shelter in place” for the next three weeks, starting tonight at midnight. This means that all business and services which are not “essential” will be shut down during that time. Grocery stores, pharmacies, healthcare, veterinary services, gas stations, auto repair shops, hardware and other home supply stores, banks, and laundry services will all stay open. Restaurants may move to delivery/pick-up only. See here for full details on this order. The implication of this change is that San Francisco is now at Tier 3, which means WFH is mandatory, at least through April 7 (when the current order ends). You can see a bunch of FAQs the city of San Francisco has put together here.
Tokyo, Dublin, London, and New York:
Given the increasing spread of COVID-19 cases across the commute range of these offices, and associated government actions, we’re now moving Dublin, London, and New York offices to Tier 2, which means we’re stopping catering and other services. The guidance around who should come into the office remains the same as Friday’s (if 1) you need to physically touch something in the office in order to perform your role, 2) your WFH situation is untenable, or 3) you are personally responsible for closing a critical candidate).
Guidance around traveling
Flagging travel and self-quarantine
Please flag any travel you are doing to the GSOC (reminder, we’re advising you not travel anywhere right now unless absolutely necessary). If you are returning to your home office, traveling from anywhere, we are now asking that you self-quarantine for 14 days after your return.
Traveling to be with family
We know that some employees are choosing to travel home to be with their families right now. I totally understand this impulse, and I want to strongly encourage you to self-quarantine after your arrival. Having you arrive and bringing COVID-19 with you would be a really crappy outcome, so if you’re going this route, the safest thing will be to stick to yourself in a room for two weeks after you arrive.
Additionally, if you are traveling to be with family, please be mindful of the residency laws in that area. Depending on how many days (sequential or cumulative) you spend in some places, you can accidentally end up a technical resident, which has tax implications. Please consult your tax professional on how this might impact you before you book travel.
Be mindful of misinformation
With the intensity of COVID-19 ramping up in most places around the world, rumors and false information will too. Please do not post news stories, Tweets, etc., in #ask-coronavirus for verification, as this can unintentionally panic your colleagues. Instead, we are working to set up a team to proactively triage these viral rumors and bits of news. We’ll post in our coronavirus wiki about what we learn — whether these items are true, false, or unverifiable (and to be treated with suspicion). We expect to have this up and running in the next 1–2 days.
Finally: Take care of yourselves
This is an incredibly stressful moment. Please take some time to check in with yourself and assess what you need: A break? A short walk? A snack? Someone to talk to? Remember that we also have resources for your mental health and well-being. Please use them!
We’ll be sure to share any new information as it develops, and as always, please post questions in #ask-coronavirus.
New FAQ:
What should I be doing if I’m planning to work remotely from where my family is?
This is fine, but we strongly encourage you to self-quarantine after your arrival. Having you arrive and bringing COVID-19 with you would be a really crappy outcome, so if you’re going this route, the safest thing will be to stick to yourself in a room for two weeks after you arrive.
Additionally, please be mindful of the residency laws in that area. Depending on how many days (sequential or cumulative) you spend in some places, you can accidentally end up a technical resident, which has tax implications. Please consult your tax professional on how this might impact you before you book travel.
If I want to help healthcare workers, what can I do?
If you’re not in an area with a “shelter in place” (read: you currently have freedom of movement) and you have stockpiled masks or other protective gear, consider donating it to hospitals or nursing homes. If our healthcare workers are themselves sick, they’re not able to adequately provide care to us, our families, and our communities.
What if I have mail headed to the SF office?
We are actively working through how mail operations will be handled and will have more specific details for you this week. For now, please do not have mail or packages sent to our addresses. If you have mail in flight, you can frequently request the carrier to re-route the package to a new address.
Mar 13, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
All Coinbase offices remain at Tier 1.
However: Unless it is absolutely necessary for you to be in the office, you should now be working from home. Necessary means:
You need to physically touch something in the office in order to perform your role
Your WFH situation is untenable (e.g., lots of roommates, no internet, etc)
You are personally responsible for closing a critical candidate. The Talent Team will be in touch if this pertains to you.
Many schools are beginning to close. If you are impacted by this, please work with your manager to make an arrangement that works for you.
We are deep-cleaning all US offices this weekend. Please clear your desk as much as possible.
Most importantly: A reminder
As a company that focuses on top talent, we’ve got a lot of high-achievers here: folks who want to do incredible work and will move mountains to make that happen. So it doesn’t surprise me that some of you are wondering whether we really “mean” that you should all go work from home. Please let me reinforce this: We want every Coinbase employee to now work from home, unless absolutely necessary. What qualifies as necessary?
You need to physically touch something in the office in order to perform your role
Your WFH situation is untenable (e.g. puts you in close proximity to other people, no internet, etc)
You are personally responsible for closing a critical candidate
If one of these statements does not apply to you, you should now be working from home. If you have questions about whether one of these statements applies to you, please talk to your manager, your HRBP or reach out in #ask-coronavirus and someone will DM you to discuss.
Why work from home?
One of the things we’ve talked about a lot is the general benefit of social distancing. If you engage with these practices, you lower the risk of spreading or contracting COVID-19 and can help flatten the curve and prevent area hospitals from hitting capacity.
Another reason is that you have a few colleagues who truly CANNOT work from home (see above exceptions). By staying home yourself, you make it safer for the people who need to be in the office, to be in the office.
More detail on school closures
We recognize that school closures are causing a lot of anxiety for people whose kids will soon be at home with them during the workday. The most important thing to do is work with your manager to come up with a plan that works for you and your team (including but not limited to working off hours, and chunking your work into shifts you can trade off with a partner).
A thank you
The Leadership Team, the crisis management team, and I want to extend a ton of gratitude to the folks who are working from home already, and anyone who opts to stay home because they are feeling under the weather. (I do want to remind everyone that it’s still cold and flu season, and that a lot of those “under the weather” symptoms are probably nothing more than that.)
One more thing
We’re planning deep cleans for all Coinbase offices. Cleaning of U.S. offices is scheduled for this weekend. To help make this process as effective and efficient as possible, we ask that U.S. employees avoid coming into the office (though, again, almost no one should be coming in at all). If you are in the office today, please clear your desk of dishes, trash, and clutter so it can be more effectively sanitized. The more decluttered our space is, the more thorough the cleaning will be.
As always, bring any questions to #ask-coronavirus.
Mar 6, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
Effective Monday, 9 March, Coinbase will move to our tier 1 posture, including optional — but suggested — work from home for all employees globally. If you want to work from home, please partner with your manager to work out the details.
Offices will remain open and continue to provide food/snacks/security/etc. services (although may scale down to better match the number of folks coming in).
We are enhancing office cleaning schedules to be more frequent/in-depth, especially around areas of high traffic (elevators, meeting rooms, bathrooms, food areas).
To reiterate, we are limiting office visitors to essential personnel only.
For those of you who choose to WFH and are in need of equipment, we are rolling out a WFH Productivity Reimbursements program.
We are now moving to using #ask-coronavirus to field any questions you have about this. We’ll post updates there as well as in #coinbase and email.
Reminder, if you are at risk or live with someone who is, we very strongly recommend that you work with your manager to arrange a WFH plan.
We’ve now aggregated all of the information we’ve been putting out in a single wiki space.
As we see the continued climb of COVID-19 case counts around the world, I want to remind folks about a couple of things we know about this virus:
Unlike the flu, very young people do not seem to be at any increased risk from COVID-19.
Risk appears to ramp up for people over age 50.
A key outcome we’re trying to achieve is the protection of our *community* and the “flattening of the infection curve.”
By continuing to give you all tools to use to adjust your personal/family risk, it is our hope that you will think not just about yourselves and your families, but how you can limit spread in your communities. Effective social distancing helps to protect your entire community. This op-ed does a great job of explaining how taking measures like these can help the bigger picture. Essentially, if those of us who can stay home, do, and minimize our contact with others, we can keep more hospital beds open at any given moment, and ensure that the people who do need medical care can get better care, faster.
We’ve now aggregated all of the information we’ve been putting out in a single wiki space.
The current situation
The US has seen a number of deaths this week, many of them unfortunately associated with a single nursing home in Washington State. Testing is *starting* to increase, including a new test that Washington State University developed. We’ve also started to see hot spots crop up in places like New York and a cruise ship off the coast of Monterey. There have been a few school closures in the SF bay area, mostly for targeted cleaning.
What we know
See my previous messages for a summary of what we know about the virus, and our FAQs (below) for specific questions. The studies that have come out in the last week have re-confirmed things we already know about the virus.
What we’re doing
Effective Monday, 9 March, Coinbase will move to our tier 1 posture, including optional — but suggested — work from home for all employees globally. If you want to work from home, please partner with your manager to work out the details.
Though we’re suggesting that employees begin to work from home, all Coinbase offices will continue to remain open and provide existing services, including lunch and dinner, snacks, etc. Working from home presents a lot of unique challenges. We’ve put together a WFH guide for managers, and the company as a whole, with tips and tricks on how to WFH and still get things done. We’ve included a bunch of WFH-related questions below and added them to our FAQs. We’re predicting this optional WFH period will last at least 30 days and we will evaluate the situation at the end of March.
For those of you who choose to WFH, we are rolling out a WFH Productivity Reimbursements program.
We are allocating budget for each employee to ensure they can stay productive while working from home, and trust employees to act like owners, purchasing only what they need on an as-needed basis. NOTE: This policy does not apply if you are a remote employee.
We are now moving to using #ask-coronavirus to field any questions you have about this. We’ll post updates there as well as in #coinbase and email.
We’ll continue sharing bi-weekly updates on the coronavirus situation, now moving to #ask-coronavirus, so please join that channel to ask any questions you might have beyond the below FAQs (about Security, IT, travel, expenses, recruiting, etc.).
Thanks,
Philip
WFH FAQs
What if I prefer to work from the office?
You have the option to work from home, but you’re not required to do so. If you’d prefer to work from the office, you’re welcome to do so at this point.
Can my manager tell me that I’m not allowed to work from home?
If your job requires you to be in the office to perform business-critical tasks, your manager may request that you come into the office to perform those tasks. If you disagree with this assessment, or feel that coming into the office would put your health or your family’s health at risk, please raise this with your manager or your HRBP. You can also go through the accommodations process.
How does this WFH period affect pre-scheduled/pre-approved PTO?
Previously scheduled and approved PTO is not affected by this WFH period — if you are scheduled to go on PTO, please enjoy your PTO! That said, we strongly encourage you to minimize personal travel. If you are going somewhere, please notify the GSOC of any personal travel to — or layovers in — countries on our restricted list (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, and South Korea) so we can help you make a plan.
I don’t feel comfortable taking public transportation to the office but I want to come in. Can I expense an Uber/Lyft?
You cannot expense an Uber or Lyft commute to or from the office — but, if you are eligible for this benefit, you can use your Coinbase-provided pre-tax funds through your Navia account to pay for an Uber Pool or Lyft Line ride to or from the office.
Who will definitely be in the office?
Essential personnel from teams needed to ensure smooth business operations — such as IT, Security, Workplace, etc. — will be in the office, along with any employees who choose to continue working from the office.
Do I have to notify anyone if I’ll be coming into the office?
Whether you plan to work from home or from the office, please keep your manager informed of your plans.
What if I need to get my computer fixed or new physical equipment?
Please log a ticket with go/it the service desk, as normal.
Can I expense lunch, snacks, etc.?
No — snacks, coffee, and meals are in-office perks to help improve the experience of being here in person. When you’re working from home, please plan to purchase and/or prepare your own coffee, snacks, and meals.
Are upcoming team social events or off-sites cancelled?
Because we are trying to minimize chances of the virus spreading, we are planning to cancel most social events and/or off-sites. If you have questions about a specific event, please reach out to the organizer.
What are we doing to help our people managers be effective remote managers?
We are sharing a guide to supporting a team that is partially or fully WFH with all managers, including tips on supporting team members who are WFH, helping work continue to move forward, and getting their own work done.
Are we allowing ANY guests (non-FTE, non-contractor) in the office?
As part of our Tier 1 plan, we are limiting office visitors to essential personnel only (read: do not invite friends for lunch, and plan to meet clients/partners over video).
Will we still be serving meals, and stocking snacks and drinks in the office?
Yes. We may be scaling down the quantity of snacks, drinks, and meals, based on the number of employees who opt to work from home, but these services are still available.
How do we imagine this will impact business outcomes?
We are doing our very best to mitigate and minimize the impact on business outcomes, but we are likely to see some slipping timelines, especially where we are dependent on external partners, due to distraction, supply chain interruption, etc. Please work with your manager to develop and maintain a good understanding of where timelines have flexibility, where they don’t, and where we suspect things might break due to coronavirus and related external factors.
What can I expect from my manager during this time?
Though you and/or your manager may be working from home during this time, we encourage you to minimize change to your working rhythm. Your manager should meet with you regularly, review your work and provide feedback as appropriate, and generally be as available to you as they have been in the past.
Can I work from anywhere, or do I have to WFH?
As mentioned above, WFH is only part of the solution. We are strongly encouraging employees to minimize personal travel and exposure to public places. Working from home, rather than a cafe around the corner, or from the beach in Hawaii, is the safest way to do so. You should be ready to return to the office by next business day should our policy change.
I’m an hourly, non-exempt employee. Is there anything special I should be doing?
Nope! Continue to follow Company policies as normal, including recording all time worked and taking your meal and rest breaks.
Mar 2, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
While the overall risk of COVID-19 to Coinbase employees remains low, it is increasing and we strongly encourage you to prepare for the next phase of this crisis, which will likely involve both community transmission and state/local government actions, such as school closures or movement restrictions.
Employees that are likely to get sick more easily or for whom getting sick would be particularly problematic should now work with their manager to move to 100% Work From Home (WFH). See our guide [pasted below] to effectively reducing your risk of bringing COVID-19 home (spoiler alert: working from home is only a part of the solution!).
Business travel is now restricted to essential travel only. Travel to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, and South Korea remains completely restricted.
We strongly encourage you to minimize personal travel. If you are going somewhere, please flag any personal travel to — or layovers in — countries on the restricted list to GSOC so we can help you make a plan.
Stop by #ask-security with questions and for weekly updates.
There has been a lot of news on coronavirus out in the last week. It can be a stressful mental place to be. (If you’re up for reading more about it, this twitter thread is a great summary of how to cope and WHO also has a nice PDF on coping with stress in the face of an outbreak). Your health and safety are a core priority of Coinbase. This update includes a number of additional proactive measures we’re taking to ensure that you can all manage your risk and that Coinbase can continue to serve our customers effectively.
A core intent of these notes to you all is to continue to share how Coinbase is responding to this moment and what you can do. We want to remain on the cutting edge of responding to COVID-19, while ensuring that our response is based on fact and science, and avoids both panic and apathy. By transparently sharing this with you all, we hope we can be a trusted source of information in an otherwise crowded information environment. Any time you have questions, you can reach us at @GSOC or #ask-security.
Finally, please remember to be sensitive to others as we all continue to talk about COVID-19. Just because you are in a low risk group doesn’t mean all your coworkers are, or that they aren’t living with someone who is. Please also remember that COVID-19 doesn’t care about your skin color, what your nationality is, or where you live. The best way for all of us to get through this crisis is to listen to the science and operate as a community, not allow fear to drive make-believe wedges between us.
Coinbase has 3 guiding principles as we continue to move forward:
Keep Coinbase employees safe
Continue to serve Coinbase customers with highest standards
Do our part to slow community spread of the virus where there appear to be outbreaks, so that the most vulnerable people are able to get the care they need
The current situation
We are continuing to see the global spread of COVID-19. In fact, we are starting to see the first documented instances of community transmission in the areas of our Portland and SF offices. We’ve seen a handful of cases in Chicago and just saw the first case in New York. We continue to see community transmission in Japan. We’ve not seen community spread yet in Dublin or London, and have seen public health officials in both areas take rapid and effective testing and containment measures. Elsewhere around the world, the outbreak continues to accelerate, except in China where they seem to have successfully slowed the spread.
The US is not testing as broadly as we should be at this point, so the full scope of the outbreak is likely not yet documented sufficiently. Much more extensive testing capacity is coming online in the coming week and we are likely to see the case count in the US jump significantly once that happens.
The best time to prepare was last week. The second best time is right now.
This weekend saw a huge uptick in individuals stockpiling goods to hedge against a broader quarantine and enable effective social distancing. As a reminder, we encourage people to ensure they have adequate supplies of food, medicine (in particular, prescription medication) and critical household goods (think batteries, trash bags, hygiene supplies, etc.) to last at least 30 days. Review our guide below to learn more.
What we know
See my previous message for a summary of what we know, and our FAQs for specific questions. The studies that have come out in the last week have re-confirmed things we already know about the virus.
What we’re doing
As of this week, if you are likely to get sick more easily, or if getting sick would be particularly problematic, we want you to work with your manager to WFH.If a local school closure impacts your family, you should also work with your manager to WFH.
Examples of this could include people who are already immunocompromised or live with people who are, people who are single parents or primary caregivers, people who are pregnant or live with those who are. It can also include people/teams who are critical single points of failure in the company, whose absence for a couple of weeks could impact our customers. PLEASE NOTE, if you move to working from home but don’t otherwise adjust your life, you will not be effectively reducing your risk. Please read our guide to social distancing below and make sure you are adjusting your life to protect yourself and your family.
As of this week, we’re restricting all business travel to essential trips only. If you think a trip is absolutely essential, please work with your leadership team member to validate that assumption prior to scheduling. Previously announced travel bans remain in effect.
Please consider using video conferencing instead of travel. If you’re planning personal travel to — or layovers in — any country on the restricted list, please reach out to @GSOC so we can work with you. You can find instructions for flagging travel for us here.
We’re moving toward virtual interviewing, asking you all to minimize external visitors (including canceling in-office events) and spinning up a visitor screening program,which will include a set of questions when visitors sign in and will expand to include temperature screening in SF.
Recruiting is working to move all interviews to virtual interviews, starting with SF, Tokyo and Portland. We’ve started the migration but likely won’t be all the way there for a week. If you use an in person tool (e.g. whiteboards) you think will be hard to replace, please ping Recruiting directly. For all offices, please minimize the number of external visitors you bring into our space. Until further notice, we will not be hosting external events in Coinbase space. If you can do a meeting via video conference, please do so. Our guest check in system will now ask visitors about their travel history. We will additionally roll out an airport-style thermal imaging screener in SF, because of the higher concentration of employees, contractors and guests. If we flag a visitor via the envoy or temperature screening program, we will let their host know, deny entry to Coinbase space, and ask the host to reschedule the meeting via video conference. If we flag an employee via the temperature screening we will ask them to work from home.
We have spun up a working group to proactively prepare for moving one or more offices to full work from home postures.
This working group is identifying specific risks and mitigations that we need to get in place to ensure Coinbase continues to function smoothly, for example, how we would manage recruiting operations, onboard new hires, etc.
We’ll continue sharing bi-weekly updates on the coronavirus situation in #ask-security, so please join that channel to ask any questions you might have beyond the below FAQs. If you have questions that are specifically about work travel, please post those in #ask-travel.
Getting ready
Stock up on essentials. Ready.gov has a good list to use as the starting point for building a disaster supply kit. This basic kit is designed to help you self-sustain for 3 days post-disaster (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) without utilities until the government and aid workers can get help to you. Unlike natural disasters, outbreaks tend to have a longer-lasting impact due to recommended or mandatory “social distancing” (read: self-quarantine), but a lower impact as utilities tend to stay available. This can last for 30 days or more. As such, we encourage you to plan to self-sustain for at least 30 days, however you can assume you’ll have power/gas/water during that time. If you build this kit, you will not only be preparing for its potential need because of COVID-19, but future emergencies as well.
Food. Buy dry or canned food for at least 30 days. Frozen goods are also a great choice, but most households lack freezer space for 30 days of food.
Medicine. Work with your primary care physician to get at least 30 days of any critical medicines, more if possible.
Household goods. Buy at least 30 days worth of whatever consumables your house goes through (toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene items, etc)
Fuel. Make sure your car(s) have a full tank of gas.
Do any critical house maintenance now. Anything that might impact the livability of your house over the next 90 days (roof leak, broken pipe, etc). Anything non-critical, defer until later.
Get a flu shot, and other medical or dental care now. This year’s flu has been in 2 waves, so the flu shot is still a good idea. You really don’t want Influenza AND COVID-19 at the same time. If you’ve been putting off that trip to get a cavity filled, or get some other health concern addressed, stop putting it off and go now or know you may have to wait 90+ days.
During a Crisis
Replenishing supplies
Always ask people bringing you things to leave them outside your door. Wait until they have moved away before opening your door to get your items.
Talk with friends and family members who don’t live with you about supporting each other if a household has to be quarantined. For example, agree to drop off groceries or food at the front door.
You should use delivery services if they are available rather than visit a store.
If delivery service workers are still conducting deliveries, you can request your delivery be left by your door to limit your contact with individuals outside of your home.
UV-C light can be an effective hands off sterilization measure, just make sure you expose surfaces for sufficient time.
Physical health
In lieu of going to the gym, try doing some body weight exercises at home to stay fit and healthy during this time.
Practice good hygiene to include bathing regularly, washing laundry, cleaning dishes and your home, etc. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose. Throw tissues away after single use.
Mental health
Have in-home entertainment plans.
Keep in touch with family members and friends via phone, email, or social media.
Schedule 1:1s or group chats with other members of your team to stay in touch. Check out https://www.netflixparty.com/ for a way to schedule a remote movie night with friends!
While at home, be sure each household member is getting ample time to themselves as well. Having quiet time to oneself is an important part of being well.
Children
If school is not canceled, kids are the most likely way for COVID-19 (and really any other virus) to enter your home. Enforce strict hand washing protocols on your kids when they come home. If your child is sick, isolate them as much as possible. If you have young children AND a person from an at-risk population in your house, quarantine the vulnerable person.
Talk to them about what is happening and why your family is taking extra precautions.
Remove the fear that a lack of information can often create. By educating them as to ‘why’ you are doing certain things, you are empowering them to be actively involved in the process and thus in control of the situation.
Make it fun! Cancelling all the playdates and normal weekend activities you might do will be tough on them and you. Take this opportunity to find new fun activities to do in the home. Fort building, writing stories and then illustrating them, and playing hide and seek are all excellent choices.
Ask your child’s school to provide assignments, worksheets, homework, etc. via email, if possible. You can also keep in contact with your child’s school or teacher via phone in order to provide necessary information, obtain schoolwork, and stay up to date on school activities. This will help your child be prepared for their return to the classroom and keep them on track with their work!
Arrange video and phone calls with your children’s friends so they can stay in touch.
Pets
Be sure to also stock up on at least 30 days worth of food and medications for the pets in your home.
Minimizing exposure to people
Don’t use public transit, at all.
Avoid crowds when possible and stay at least 6 feet away from any person exhibiting signs of illness.
Avoid small rooms with others.
Avoid any non-essential public gatherings, including concerts, the movies, shopping, sports, etc.
Religious services
Consider not attending any religious services during this time. Speak with your community leaders ahead of time and learn if any remote video or audio options are available. Make plans to have any necessary items on hand that you may need to continue practicing your faith from home (items for communion, religious texts, etc). Establish a direct line of communication with your congregation’s leadership so that you may contact them remotely should you need to.
Deliveries and mail
Don’t buy/order non-essential items.
Do not open the door to receive packages when possible. Politely ask the delivery driver to leave the item on the porch or outside of your door.
Open packages wearing gloves and dispose of packaging promptly. Wash your hand with soap and water after opening and disposing of packages and mail.
Pay your bills electronically to limit any unnecessary trips to the mailbox.
Home maintenance
Postpone any non-critical home improvement projects.
For urgent matters (water leaks requiring a plumber), speak with the service provider ahead of time and advise them that you will be requiring them to wear a hospital style N95 mask while they perform the service in your home.
Caring for a sick family member
Keep any ill individual’s items separate from others. Try to designate an area specifically for them, and keep anyone who has not contracted an illness out. When cleaning laundry items, wash them in hot water.
Use disinfectants to clean areas and items touched by an ill individual. Wipe down or spray disinfectant on items everyone uses frequently in the household (toilets, door handles, countertops, appliances, remotes, etc).
Throw away disposable masks and gloves after one use. Reusable masks can be washed in hot water and tumble-dried.
If an ill individual is wearing a mask, ensure it is well-fitted and a good seal has been achieved. The mask should be sealed over the bridge of the nose and mouth, and there should be no gaps between the face and the mask.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after taking off gloves or a face mask and before touching anything else.
Wear a face mask and wrap-around glasses if you must help a family member with a nebulizer or inhaler.
If your home has more than one bathroom, designate one of the bathrooms for use of the ill individual. Leave disinfectant products in the bathroom for items to be wiped down or sprayed.
Make sure ill individuals get plenty of rest, drink plenty of water, and maintain a healthy diet.
Seek medical attention if an ill individual displays shortness of breath or difficulty breathing (generally defined as an adult taking more than 30 breaths a minute while resting).
Feb 24, 2020 Communication to Coinbase Employees
Hey all,
Tl;dr:
We continue to believe the risk of COVID-2019 coronavirus to most employees is low, with a slightly elevated risk to our team in Japan.
Even so, we’re now suggesting that individuals should start doing some simple contingency planning.
Business travel to China and Hong Kong is still restricted. Additionally, we have added Japan, Italy, and South Korea to the business travel restricted list.
Please flag any personal travel to — or layovers in — countries on the restricted list to GSOC so we can help you make a plan (instructions here).
Stop by #ask-security with questions and for weekly updates.
It’s been three weeks since our last email update, so I wanted to provide an update both around what is known about COVID-19 and what Coinbase is doing.
We still do not see community transmission in or around Coinbase offices, with the exception of our Japan office. For Japan specifically, we’ve put our tier 1 response plan into place (see below for more) and, among other things, are encouraging everyone in that office to work from home.
However, given the continued spread of COVID-19, we feel that it is reasonable for individuals in locations not yet impacted by the virus to begin some personal contingency planning and preparation. In the event of a local transmission hotspot, the key to safety will be “social distancing,” aka making sure we give the virus limited means to spread person-to-person. You may also see moves from local governments to put travel restrictions in place. Your preparations should focus on what will enable you to minimize your contact with and dependency on others. In particular, we encourage people to ensure they have adequate supplies of food, medicine (in particular, prescription medication) and critical household goods (think batteries, trash bags, hygiene supplies, etc.) to last at least 30 days.
What we know
We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely and gather data from primary sources where possible (including the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local public health offices and retained consultants).
COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus. It is primarily transmitted by aerosolized droplets (e.g. the droplets you release when you cough or sneeze. These droplets can travel over 6 feet if you don’t cover your mouth and nose effectively!), much like the flu or a cold. It may also be transmitted via fecal matter (even very small/invisible amounts). The virus can survive for some amount of time outside the human body, although the specific parameters are not yet known, so transmission can occur by touching a surface contaminated with the virus and then touching your eyes/nose/mouth.
Unlike most other coronaviruses, the period of maximum contagiousness appears to occur early in the virus’ life cycle, somewhere between 1 and 3 days after the first sign of symptoms. Some number of individuals that contract coronavirus remain asymptomatic, but can still spread the virus (although we don’t know how common this is). The virus’ incubation period appears to be somewhere in the 5–7 day time period on average, but has a fairly wide range (summary of research), and likely depends to a large extent on where the virus lands in a given host (e.g. did the virus get transmitted via someone rubbing their eyes and has to work it’s way to the respiratory tract, or did it land in the lungs directly and can get right to work). According to a study by the CDC in about 80% of cases, symptoms are mild and look a lot like the flu or other viral respiratory illness and may include coughing, fever, body aches, etc. This category of cases generally self-resolve with little to no medical intervention. About 14% of cases develop severe symptoms (including pneumonia or shortness of breath). This category of cases will require medical care, but probably not intensive care. About 6% develop critical symptoms (shock, respiratory failure, etc). This category of cases will require care in an ICU or similar.
The Case Fatality Rate (CFR, the percent of cases that result in death) is impossible to determine reliably at this point. The WHO quotes a 2% rate, but caveats it extensively. The latest published paper (summary) addressing the topic breaks the CFR down by age group and quotes between a 0.2% and 0.4% CFR for ages 0–40 and significant jumps for groups older than that. The most at risk populations appear to be the very old and those with already weak immune systems. The paper above also addresses comorbid conditions, with the highest CFR being those with Cardiovascular disease at just over 10%, and the lowest being those with no pre-existing conditions at 0.9% (across all age groups).
What we’re doing
We’re continuing to restrict business travel to China and Hong Kong. As of this week, we’re adding Japan, Italy, and South Korea to the business restricted list, as well as mandatory WFH measures to employees returning to Coinbase offices from Japan, South Korea and Italy for a period of 7 days. If you’re planning personal travel to — or layovers in — any country on the restricted list, please reach out to @GSOC so we can work with you. You can find instructions for flagging travel for us here.
We have a standing Crisis Management Team continually reviewing new information as it comes in. We have established a four tier escalation ladder (from tier 0 to tier 3) for response to changes that impact Coinbase offices. The primary criterion for moving up the ladder is the number of community transmission events within a commute radius of a Coinbase office. All Coinbase offices except Japan are at tier 0. Tier 0 includes improved sanitation measures (both in terms of office cleaning and in terms of making things like hand sanitizer available) as well as continuous risk monitoring via a crisis management team. At tier 1, which is currently active for the Japan office, we encourage as much work from home as possible, limit in-office meetings, visits and services and make or review concrete plans to move critical workflows to offices that are not impacted. At tier 2 we close the office to non-essential personnel/activities/events and execute those workload movement plans. At tier 3 we lock down the office entirely, and go to 100% mandatory wfh.
We’ll continue sharing weekly updates on the coronavirus situation in #ask-security, so please join that channel to ask any questions you might have beyond the below FAQs. If you have questions that are specifically about work travel, please post those in #ask-travel.
Employee FAQs:
What IS a coronavirus?
“Coronaviruses” are nothing new. This specific strain started being called “2019-nCoV” and is now designated “COVID-19”. “MERS” and “SARS” were also Coronaviruses with similar spread and impact, but the common cold is also a coronavirus.
COVID-19 is primarily transmitted by aerosolized droplets (e.g. the droplets you release when you cough or sneeze. These droplets can travel over 6 feet if you don’t cover your mouth and nose effectively!), much like the flu or a cold. It may also be transmitted via fecal matter (even very small/invisible amounts). The virus can survive for some amount of time outside the human body, although the specific parameters are not yet known, so transmission can occur by touching a surface contaminated with the virus and then touching your eyes/nose/mouth.
Unlike most other coronaviruses, the period of maximum contagiousness appears to occur early in the virus’ life cycle, somewhere between 1 and 3 days after the first sign of symptoms. Some number of individuals that contract coronavirus remain asymptomatic, but can still spread the virus (although we don’t know how common this is). The virus’ incubation period appears to be somewhere in the 5–7 day time period on average, but has a fairly wide range (summary of research), and likely depends to a large extent on where the virus lands in a given host (e.g. did the virus get transmitted via someone rubbing their eyes and has to work it’s way to the respiratory tract, or did it land in the lungs directly and can get right to work). According to a study by the CDC in about 80% of cases, symptoms are mild and look a lot like the flu or other viral respiratory illness and may include coughing, fever, body aches, etc. This category of cases generally self-resolve with little to no medical intervention. About 13% of cases develop severe symptoms (including pneumonia or shortness of breath). This category of cases will require medical care, but probably not intensive care. About 5% develop critical symptoms (shock, respiratory failure, etc). This category of cases will require care in an ICU or similar.
Where are we banning business travel?
We’re currently restricting travel to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, and South Korea.
Why isn’t Singapore on the banned business travel list?
Singapore has done a really good job of tracking where their cases have come from, and as a result we’re not seeing a lot of transmission “in the wild” there, so we don’t believe that there is currently a reason to ban business travel there.
Have any employees been traveling in impacted regions?
Several employees have recently traveled to impacted regions, and we are working actively with them to plan for their re-entry to the company in a way that maximizes safety for all other Coinbase employees.
Have any Coinbase employees been infected with coronavirus?
No.
What kind of precautions should I be taking?
Beyond travel restrictions, the best preventative measures to take are the same as with the common cold or the flu:
Washing your hands frequently (after traveling on public transportation, before and after eating…)
Coughing/sneezing into your elbow, not your hand
Arranging with your manager to WFH or take sick time as appropriate, if you have symptoms
See more: CDC Prevention Guidelines
(References from the CDC, ISOS, and WHO.)
Other companies seem to be doing more than we are. How are we sure this is the right approach for us?
We’ve been benchmarking (and working directly with) myriad other companies across several industries. In each case we observed that the risk exposure to these companies varies greatly based on operations in the most heavily impacted regions (e.g., Disney has actual operations in China). This is to say that those teams are assessing the risk likelihood and impact in the same manner we are. Companies with sustained, numerous operations or travellers in China are at a much greater risk than Coinbase. Still, their approach is often in line with ours and we are confident we are enacting the right strategies at this time to protect Coinbase employees. We will continually be reassessing the situation and adjusting our strategy accordingly.
Do we stock masks in each office? Should I wear one?
We have sufficient N95 masks stocked in the San Francisco and New York offices, and more will arrive in our other offices in the next few days. That said, we are not suggesting that anyone needs to wear masks, either inside or outside of the office. Evidence suggests that since the general public isn’t trained on how to properly wear or dispose of masks, the benefit of wearing one is low, and the CDC doesn’t recommend it. We want you to make the best informed decisions possible, so it’s up to you whether or not you choose to use a mask.
Do we stock hand sanitizer in each office?
Yes. Each office stocks sanitizer at reception, and depending on the office, in other areas as well. In addition, the Workplace Experience team has installed hand sanitizer stations in San Francisco, with other offices soon to follow.
What would need to happen for us to change our current approach? What happens if this gets a lot worse?
We have a standing Crisis Management Team continually reviewing new information as it comes in. We have established a four tier escalation ladder (from tier 0 to tier 3) for response to changes that impact Coinbase offices. The primary criterion for moving up the ladder is the number of community transmission events within a commute radius of a Coinbase office. All Coinbase offices except Japan are at tier 0. Tier 0 includes improved sanitation measures (both in terms of office cleaning and in terms of making things like hand sanitizer available) as well as continuous risk monitoring via a crisis management team. At tier 1, which is currently active for the Japan office, we encourage as much work from home as possible, limit in-office meetings, visits and services and make or review concrete plans to move critical workflows to offices that are not impacted. At tier 2 we close the office to non-essential personnel/activities/events and execute those workload movement plans. At tier 3 we lock down the office entirely, and go to 100% mandatory wfh.
As the shape of this health crisis expands, how are we thinking about precautions for each affected country and each Coinbase office?
See above for our escalation ladder, but in general, we’re evaluating quarantine protocols on a by-location basis, focusing not just on headlines, but on the underlying data. We are also factoring in our specific risk factors at Coinbase, including company operations and employee travel. We use all of these inputs to make informed risk assessments for each of our office locations, and we will continually be reassessing the situation and adjusting our strategy accordingly. If you’re wondering about a specific country and associated risk level, feel free to reach out to us in #ask-security.
What sort of office cleaning standards and frequency do we have in our offices?
All Coinbase have cleaning crews that ensure our offices meet a standard of cleanliness. Deep cleaning in all offices are done either on a nightly or weekly basis depending on the size of the office.
In San Francisco specifically, our ABM and Flagship teams thoroughly clean and sanitize common areas throughout the day. Their focus during the day is to keep common areas clean and tidy as the areas are used. Common areas are defined as conference rooms, pantries, restrooms, print stations, high traffic walk-ways, reception, and cafe, among others.
At night our cleaning staff do a deep clean of all common areas and any other surfaces that are considered shared spaces. Our ABM and Flagship teams are also responsible for keeping janitorial areas clean and sanitized to prevent the spread of any germs.
What about the people being treated at Bay Area hospitals? Is this a risk?
There are people being treated for coronavirus at Bay Area hospitals (including UCSF and a hospital in the area of Travis Air Force base, where returnees from Wuhan are currently quarantined). Hospitals and their employees have been preparing to manage the treatment of coronavirus for weeks now, and we don’t believe the treatment of cases in the area is impacting risk for our employees.
If the risk is still low in my area, why are you suggesting I start accumulating supplies?
Being over-prepared is better than being under-prepared, and preparing before you absolutely need to allows you to avoid competition with all the late preppers. The earlier you get it done the easier it is, and the less stress you’ll feel. Additionally, the supplies we’re suggesting you stock up on are supplies you should have on hand anyway in order to effectively weather any regional disaster.
What supplies should I start putting together?
Ready.gov has a good list to use as the starting point for building a disaster supply kit. This basic kit is designed to help you self-sustain for 3 days post-disaster (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) until the government and aid workers can get help to you. Unlike natural disasters, outbreaks tend to have a longer-lasting impact due to recommended or mandatory “social distancing” (read: self-quarantine). This can last for 30 days or more. As such, we encourage you to plan to self-sustain for at least 30 days. If you build this kit, you will not only be preparing for its potential need because of COVID-19, but future emergencies as well.
What other lifestyle changes should I be making to keep myself and my family safe?
It depends. Essentially, you should decide on the appropriate risk posture for you and your family based on your personal situation. For example, mortality rates for COVID-19 are highly correlated with age — the older you are, the more dangerous it is. They also increase for people with compromised immune systems (respiratory disease, cancer, etc.). So if you live with someone in their 80s, you might want to take a more conservative stance, like limiting personal travel, or not going on a cruise.
If we’re having employees returning from Japan, South Korea, and Italy work from home for seven days, should we also limit contact with people we know personally who are returning from those countries?
Again, that depends on your personal risk posture. If you’ve got people in your life who are in at-risk populations, you might choose to do this, as well as limiting your own travel.
If I need to flag a layover in one of the restricted countries, does that mean I need to change my flights?
Not necessarily. Please reach out to GSOC and we’ll assess current screening measures at the airport that you’re flying through. Some airports are doing an exceptional job screening travelers, but we want to know where you’re at in the world so we can help you make the right risk-adjusted plan.
Are we banning these countries for PTO as well?
Not currently, but we do need you to flag any personal travel to these countries (process here). Also please be aware that we will ask you to work from home for seven days after traveling to any of these countries for personal reasons.
Response Levels Framework
General context
The most important overall context to have here is that we’re planning for a really negative outcome. We don’t expect to see anything like this in reality. Our expectation is that the measured mortality rate (once low-severity cases are included in the overall count) will fall significantly and that we’ll see limited transmission in the west, where there will be fewer high density multi-generational housing situations.
We may also see orgs with very low risk tolerance (e.g. daycares, elder care, etc) take protective measures well in advance of the general population. That may cause pressure on employees who depend on those services, especially daycare.
Triggers and Actions
Phase 1 Triggers
More than 100 instances of in-the-wild person-to-person virus transmission between people who are not close relatives/living in the same house and outside of a hospital setting, occurring within the commuting radius of a given Coinbase office. Measured mortality rate remains 1% or above (10x the seasonal flu). Observed transmission rate remains above 1.5.
Phase 1 Actions
We may ask certain populations of employees to WFH in the impacted area (e.g. if there is a hotspot of transmission)
We will offer optional WFH for all employees in the impacted area (especially important for those with potentially vulnerable populations at home, the very young, very old or those with otherwise compromised immune systems).
We will enhance office cleaning schedules to be more frequent/in-depth, especially around areas of high traffic (elevators, meeting rooms, bathrooms, food areas) along with specific mask disposal bins.
We will limit office visitors to essential personnel only (and work with recruiting to e.g. move interviews to video calls where possible)
We will ask all leaders to start making plans for continuity of operations/identification and movement of critical workloads/personnel to other offices or to WFH.
Phase 2 Triggers (aka local containment is failing)
More than 1000 events as above or any government quarantine actions in the commute range of a Coinbase office. Measured mortality rate remains 1% or above (10x the seasonal flu). Observed transmission rate remains above 1.5.
Phase 2 Actions
We’ll work with individual business owners to execute their critical workload movement plans to whatever office seems least impacted.
stop meal service in impacted office(s). Potentially moot, as we expect most employees will be voluntarily wfh at this point.
stop all visitors to the office(s) OR institute a visitor health screening program (e.g. airport style infrared camera in the office lobby + basic screening questions). Again, may be moot.
Phase 3 Triggers (aka containment has failed, it’s going to be a wild ride)
More than 5000 infections with an increasingly upward trend (Doubling interval is 10 days or less). Measured mortality rate remains 1% or above (10x the seasonal flu). Observed transmission rate remains above 1.5.
Phase 3 Actions
mandatory WFH in the impacted area(s)
All workload movement plans executed, including potential relocation of essential personnel outside the danger area.
at this level, I’d expect our ability to use 3rd party services like cleaning, snacks, etc to start to break down because of fear driven absenteeism.
I’d also expect to see regional isolation in the impacted area
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