Big tech opts for mandatory jabs

Google and Facebook will mandate its staff to be vaccinated, a trend that may spread across the corporate world.

A health worker prepares a syringe of the Sinovac Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in Surabaya, Indonesia. Picture: AFP

Business might become the driver for compulsory vaccination rather than government, with Google and Facebook now saying they will require all employees at their US campuses to be vaccinated.

They may be joined shortly by Apple, with fresh reports from the US that the Cupertino company is now deliberating on compulsory vaccination when staff in the US return to offices in October.

Big tech seems to be developing an appetite for compulsory vaccination and many of these firms have staff and offices here in Australia that may eventually reflect those policies.

Government is taking a more libertarian view with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying that in Australia, getting the jab is not compulsory, although there are likely to be some limitations on the activities of unvaccinated people for health reasons.

With vaccination now a high priority issue in Australia, The Grattan Institute’s Professor Stephen Duckett has advocated a $10m lottery to encourage Australians to take the jab with $1m weekly prizes each week over ten weeks.

Modelling suggests around 80 per cent of the population will need to be vaccinated to achieve so-called “herd immunity”, where the virus will find it harder to circulate among a mainly vaccinated community.

But it may be business and in particular transnational corporations and big tech firms that take a less lenient stand when it comes to staff being unvaccinated, when enough vaccines are available in the community, even if governments remain committed to voluntary vaccination only.

For transnational firms, what is decided in the US may spill over into Australia.

The Wall Street Journal says when it comes to big tech, Google and Facebook will join a number of other US private and public companies in mandating vaccination for staff.

It reports that Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told employees in a note this week that the company would start requiring anyone on its US campuses to be vaccinated in the coming weeks.

It reports that Google would expand that requirement to other countries in future months. Google has a substantial local headquarters in Sydney.

There is some leniency in Google’s plan for workers who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons, and some accommodation of people who refuse vaccination. They may have to work permanently from home, but they will be asked to “speak with human resources regarding their options”, reports the WSJ.

Facebook says the company has a “process for workers who choose not to receive a vaccine” and it would be “evaluating its approach in other regions as the situation evolves”.

Salesforce and Netflix are also looking at how they deal with unvaccinated staff in particular settings.

Vaccination status may become an item that some companies require to know when people apply for jobs. In April, the WSJ reported this was already happening in New York. Will it happen locally?

Other industries too are taking a stand. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has been a long time advocate of compulsory vaccines for flying, saying earlier this year that governments are going to insist on vaccines for international travellers.

With the virus allowed to circulate freely, would hotels, restaurants or Airbnbs require both staff to have had two jabs, and maybe even customers?

There have been of course moves to implement compulsory vaccination in aged care, health care, disability care and other areas where there is an obvious risk to vulnerable people.

With the availability of vaccines ramping up in Australia, we’re about to see how such workplace policies unfold in Australia.

There seems to be majority but not overwhelming support for compulsory vaccination in workplaces.

A report this month by Lonergan commissioned by Elmo Software found employers mandating employee COVID-19 vaccinations was supported by 62 per cent of Australian workers.

Nearly half (44 per cent) of Australian workers were uncomfortable going into work if their colleagues were not vaccinated.

Elmo Software CEO Danny Lessem said the COVID-19 vaccine will become a tough challenge for employers in the coming months.

“We are already seeing different companies take different approaches to managing vaccination requirements in the workplace. It’s far from a cut-and-dried matter and will require employers to be able to engage in transparent one-to-one communication with their employees.”