The effects of Ebola on your business - higher absentee rate!!

Analyst firm Gartner has departed from its usual areas of expertise to issue advice on how to combat the Ebola virus.

The firm's advice, which it says it is offering for free because “issues of public safety deserve broad distribution in the public interest”.

The advice is so earnest that it almost sounds comical. For example, readers are told to “Assume an initial very high rate of worker absenteeism in the business location that has had the confirmed Ebola virus infected patient due to the fear of becoming infected themselves.”

Now that's some fancy analysing.

Deeper down, the document offers less-obvious insights, including the observation that now is probably a fine time to “Meet with the cleaning service used for each of your business locations” to make sure their hygiene practices are up to snuff, plus a recommendation to horde cleaning supplies ahead of possible bulk buys. There's also a suggestion to run an influenza vaccination program in your workplace, to reduce the chance of colleagues coming down with scarifying fevers.

[link to www.theregister.co.uk]