Dozens of Google employees remain stranded in Dubai after the company’s cloud division held its “Accelerate” sales kickoff there last week, according to people familiar with the matter cited by CNBC.
While most employees were able to leave the region, dozens remain stuck because of widespread flight disruptions. According to aviation-data firm Cirium, more than 11,000 flights across the Middle East have been cancelled since the US–Israeli strikes over the weekend.
Google said the majority of impacted employees are regional staff rather than US-based workers. Dubai serves as a regional hub for Google’s cloud and sales operations across the Middle East and North Africa. Other technology companies have also adjusted operations as tensions escalate in the region.
Nvidia has temporarily closed its Dubai office, with employees working remotely, according to an internal email sent by CEO Jensen Huang to employees early Tuesday and reviewed by CNBC. Huang said the company’s crisis management team has been “working around the clock and actively supporting affected employees and their families” in the Middle East, including around 6,000 Nvidia employees based in Israel.
Nvidia has a significant presence in Israel after acquiring Mellanox, a company that makes ethernet switches and networking hardware, for about $7.13 billion in 2019. Israel today represents Nvidia’s largest research and development base outside the United States.
Amazon has also instructed its corporate employees across the Middle East to work remotely and follow local government guidelines. Amazon operates corporate offices in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey and Israel. It also runs warehouses and data centres throughout the region, along with “quick commerce outlets” in the UAE designed to fulfil 15-minute deliveries.
Drones directly struck two data centres in the UAE, while a nearby drone strike damaged a facility in Bahrain. The sites sustained structural damage, power disruptions and some water damage after firefighters worked to put out sparks and fires. The facilities remain offline, and some Amazon Web Services applications, including virtual server and database services, have continued to experience disruptions. AWS has advised customers to back up their data or consider migrating workloads to other regions.
Social media company Snap said it has asked employees at its four Middle East offices to work remotely until further notice and advised staff to follow guidance from local authorities regarding shelter-in-place orders and departure recommendations.
The changes in corporate operations come as tensions escalate following joint US–Israel strikes on Iran over the weekend that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated with strikes on Israeli and US bases across the Gulf, disrupting civilian life, internet access in Iran, flight routes and energy shipments across the region.
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