Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -2.41% GOOG, -2.37% has recommended employees in North America to work from home because of the coronavirus outbreak -- the largest such telecommuting request yet among major employers. A majority of the company's approximately 119,000 employees worldwide are based in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Google's parent company previously advised such action for employees in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Business Insider was first to report on Alphabet's latest request in North America, which was confirmed by MarketWatch. Alphabet joins several other major tech companies that have requested employees work from home. They include Apple Inc. AAPL, -3.17% , Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.24% , Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.78% , Intel Corp. INTC, -0.85% , HP Inc. HPQ, -0.99% , and Salesforce.com Inc. CRM, -0.71% .