MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – While non-essential businesses are being fined if they remain open violating the statewide stay-at-home orders, thousands of essential workers continue to go to work. Keenan Robertson, an application engineer at Mitutoyo, is one of those people.
He sits alone in the showroom with a camera and microphone to do training sessions on precision measurement and coding remotely. Robertson feels safe at work. “There’s only about 3 or 4 people coming into the office and obviously it’s exponentially safer than so many workers have it right now”.
Mitutoyo gave employees letters stating they are essential workers and can go to work, but Robertson admits “I don’t feel essential when I think of essential I think that if someone didn’t go to work society would not be able to function”.
Manufacturing is shifting to make more of the equipment necessary to address COVID-19, so the machines used need to be reprogrammed to manufacture personal protective equipment. The work that Robertson and other engineers are doing is making these supplies available. They are able to work from a distance, keeping those who can not safer.
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