JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has followed the lead of Citigroup, the major New York City-based bank, and told employees Monday that they “risk losing their jobs” if they don’t get vaccinated. Dimon said, “If you aren’t going to get vaxxed, you won’t be able to work in that office. We’re not going to pay you not to work in the office.” The chief executive reaffirmed, “We want people to get vaccinated.”
Last week, Citi informed its U.S. employees that those who’ve elected not to get vaccinated by January 14 “will be placed on unpaid leave and fired at the end of the month unless they are granted an exemption,” according to Reuters.
Citi was the first top-tier investment bank to institute this policy. One of the many reasons for this edict is that Wall Street and financial services firms have been the most ardent proponents of pushing their bankers, brokers, traders, compliance and other professionals to return to their respective offices.
It is not just Wall Street that’s getting tough on vaccinations, in light of the widely spreading Omicron variant. It was reported that Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, previously terminated 200 employees for failure to comply with United’s vaccination mandate.
CNBC reported that Google employees have up until January 18 to adhere to the tech giant’s vaccination policy. For those who push back or refuse, they’ll be placed on paid leave for 30 days— then unpaid personal leave for as much as six months before finally facing termination.
A Google spokesperson said about the decision, “We’re committed to doing everything possible to help our employees who can get vaccinated do so, and have an accommodation process for approved exceptions. We firmly stand behind our vaccination policy.”
Money magazine reported Mayo Clinic, a major nonprofit healthcare organization, fired more than 700 workers who failed to comply with the organization’s vaccination mandate. A large number of hospitals have fired nurses and other healthcare providers for failing to comply with mandates.
Tyson Foods required all of its 120,000 workers in the U.S. to get vaccinated. The company is the world’s second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork. Tyson CEO Donnie King said in a memo to employees that as the Delta variant and possibly other strains may surge throughout the U.S., “it is abundantly clear that getting vaccinated is the single most effective thing we can do to protect ourselves, our families and our communities.”
Four months later, the Omicron strain made its way to the U.S. Kroger, one of the largest employers in the U.S., with nearly half a million full-time and part-time employees, said that it is “eliminating some Covid-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees, a move to encourage vaccinations as the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate faces legal challenges.”
Apple, Google, Ford, Lyft, Meta, DoorDash, Capital One, Uber and other organizations pushed back their timetable for people to return to an office setting or said they will be monitoring the situation and will render a decision when there is more clarity.
Source: Forbes
