Several companies in both the public and private sector have been issued with recommendations and precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, even if there are still no official cases in Malta.
Earlier this week, business advisory firm Deloitte said it had asked staff returning from Italy to work from home for two weeks as a precaution against the spread of the virus.
However, not all professions are afforded the possibility of teleworking. Factory lines and the production industry require the attendance of floor workers to keep business going.
Toly Products, which produces promotional packaging for the beauty industry, employs around 400 people in Malta, none of whom have required preventive quarantine till now, chief human resources officer Steve Vella told Times of Malta.
“We don’t have a reserve workforce, so our people are needed here,” Mr Vella said.
“What we do have in place is a multiskilled workforce, so if contingencies are necessary, we might contract at the lower levels and have our own staff move up.”
While the company’s product development team have considered contingencies to work remotely, the same could not be so for the producing arm of the company.
“In other areas, where possible, we’ve thought of the way people could continue to work from home, but you can’t do that on the shop floor. If it comes to that, then we’ll have to wait and respond to the situation accordingly,” Mr Vella said.
In the meantime, Toly has intensified its “cleaning regime” and trained employees on good hygiene practices to prevent the spread of illness.
“We will continue to follow recommendations made by the health authorities and have advised people not to report to work if they experience symptoms,” Mr Vella said.
Sources at a local food production company told Times of Malta that, while no definitive decisions have been made, discussions on how to tackle the possibility of quarantine were ongoing.
The sources said that the present outlook would see disruptions in the workforce, despite no employees requiring quarantine to date.
“When it comes to quality, we are very cautious. Workers already go through a high level of safety measures when working with food – wearing masks, hairnets, gloves and special clothing. For our products, it’s crucial, so we are talking about it and keeping ourselves informed.”
A spokesperson for STMicroelectronics said the company was following the situation closely and had contingencies in place in accordance with their business-continuity plans.
“To both maximise the prevention of infection and support our employees and their families, we have distributed supplies and specific instructions on personal hygiene and travel advice, and are following the directives issued by local authorities and the World Health Organisation,” they said.