Back in September, President Joe Biden ordered a vaccination mandate for companies with over 100 employees. He added that those who did not receive their shots must undergo weekly testing.
Biden chastised holdouts who protested against getting their shots, saying, “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.” Biden said he was becoming “frustrated” with the 80 million Americans who have not complied, despite the surge in the Delta variant and an alarming increase in cases and filled hospital beds.
Recently, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked Biden’s administration from enforcing the rules in light of legal challenges. The U.S. division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration— who was tasked to carry out Biden’s directives—agreed to not enforce the executive orders until a court decision was reached.
There has been a whipsaw of business edicts creating a back-and-forth drama of companies saying that staff need to return to their office on a certain date, only to later change it due to the Delta variant and other virus concerns. Dealing with the uncertainty, companies are preparing for the mandate— which was supposed to take place by January 4—as a proactive measure.
To gauge the mood and mindset of workers, Blind, an app that offers employees of high profile tech, finance and other sectors to share their thoughts anonymously, ran a survey of its members. By sharing their company’s name and not their real identity, it provides for honest discussions without the fear of getting in trouble with their boss and coworkers over potentially controversial comments.
A big question with the vaccine mandates is whether or not a job seeker should share her proof of COVID-19 vaccination on their resume, LinkedIn profile and applications. Companies have already posted jobs on various platforms requiring applicants to provide their vaccination status or stating that having the shot is one of the requirements to be considered for an interview and employment.
The Blind survey of 5,000 verified professionals conducted on the platform between Nov. 12 to 17, 2021, sought to find out “how professionals view the requirement to provide their vaccination status during the application process.” It looks like “a majority of job seekers are fans of the new practice.”
Here are some of the highlights of the survey:
- Nearly 65% of respondents said that “they would view a company more positively if they found out a company required job candidates to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.” Only 15% said they would have a more negative view, and 22% did not offer an opinion.
- About 34% of workers at Adobe said they would “have a more negative opinion of a company that included a COVID-19 vaccination requirement in their job applications.”
- Almost 90% answered that they “would apply to a job that asked for proof of COVID-19 vaccination,” and the rest said they “would avoid a company that required COVID-19 vaccine status to apply.”
- More than one in five professionals (22%) surveyed by Blind believe a requirement to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to apply for a job is discrimination.
- More than two out of five professionals (42%) at Adobe agreed the practice was discrimination. Current professionals at Visa (36%), Apple (31%), Cisco (30%), NVIDIA (30%), Salesforce (29%), Twilio (28%), VMware (28%), Walmart (26%), Expedia Group (24%), Uber (24%) and Amazon (23%) were also more likely than other professionals to have answered “yes.”
The conclusion drawn from the 5,000 respondents shows an overwhelming number of professionals in the U.S., was that the vaccination requirement question “does not stir up controversy, and instead, is welcomed.” More that half of the respondents, 63%, said they’d “view companies requiring job candidates to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination more positively.”
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with over 300,000 HR and business executive members in 165 countries, previously conducted a survey of leadership to find out what is happening in the workplace, in the wake of Biden’s vaccination mandate edict.
The results revealed that 90% of employers responded that it will be “somewhat or very challenging to implement the Biden administration’s mandate.” The study, conducted in late September, composed of HR professionals found “80% of organizations that meet the mandate criteria are concerned about the amount of time they will have to spend enforcing or tracking employees’ vaccination status or test status.”
Nearly 40% of the replies reported that retaining talent was the most challenging impact of the mandate and 89% feel that some employees will quit their jobs because of the new requirements. Roughly 65% of respondents said, “ I cannot afford to pay for regular testing for unvaccinated employees.”
SHRM president and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. offered his perspective on the situation, stating, “Clearly, as we await the federal government’s Emergency Temporary Standard detailing how this mandate is supposed to work, employers and employees are uneasy about the potential for disruptions in the workplace.” He added, “The HR community has a lot on its plate right now, and we are doing all we can to see that organizations are prepared for what’s to come.
The next big question for workers and job seekers is whether or not they should put their vaccination status on their résumés and LinkedIn profiles. It could look like they are virtue signaling or simply stating a fact.
Not having the status could spook hiring managers, making them wonder if an applicant for a role or a co-worker received their jabs. It’s a really interesting question. Since the nation is so divided, it could potentially alienate the people you’re interviewing or working with.
Indeed, the large job aggregation site, reported that job listings requiring vaccinations have soared. “The share of Indeed job postings per million requiring vaccination was up 242%” July to August 30. On the opposite side of the spectrum, “the share of searches for jobs not requiring vaccination was nearly 20 times higher month over month, with the majority of those searches in healthcare.”
Placing a banner on LinkedIn, similar to the #OpentoWork trend or adding a bullet point to your résumé could mean the difference between getting a job offer or not. Depending upon the interviewer, company culture, colleagues or bosses, your decision may make you an outcast. There’s the possibility that you can find similar-minded people who accept your decision.
Daisy Wright, founder of the Wright Career Solution, is a certified career coach, résumé strategist, interview coach and overall job-search strategist. According to Wright, “This is a new phenomenon in the job search landscape, but I don’t think one’s vaccination status should be placed on a résumé or LinkedIn profile.” She points out that other personal items aren’t prominently displayed on a résumé or LinkedIn profile. “We wouldn’t mention age, race, sexual orientation or disability on a résumé or LinkedIn profile, so I would treat one’s vaccination status the same way.”
Wright offered the big picture surrounding this issue, stating, “Some companies clearly state that proof of vaccination is a condition for employment. In such a case, that’s great for those who are vaccinated, but it need not be included on a résumé or LinkedIn profile. On the flip side, it would be a signal to anti-vaxxers to seek employment elsewhere or get the vaccine if they want the job.”
Wright advises, as with everything else, start with research. If vaccination is an issue, find out if the company has made the news in that regard. If not, contact them to find out if they have any vaccination policies in place, and what they are.
Source: Forbes
