70% of HR directors say COVID jabs will be compulsory in their workplace

The number of job postings requiring workers to be vaccinated soared by 116% between August and September, according to data released by Indeed Flex the online marketplace for flexible workers. The proportion of vacancies explicitly requiring the COVID-19 vaccination also rose by 119%.

The care homes sector, which from November will be legally required to ensure all staff and volunteers are fully vaccinated against COVID, is among the industries posting the most jobs requiring jabs. Other roles highly likely to require vaccination are to be found in customer service, cleaning and hospitality.

Meanwhile, a survey of HR directors found seven in 10 (70%) say they will require staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Nearly half (48%) said they would require all staff, except those with a medical exemption, to be vaccinated, while 22% would implement mandatory jabs for all workers.

The findings, compiled jointly by Indeed Flex and Indeed, the world’s largest job site, suggest vaccination has become a high priority for those in charge of recruitment and a prerequisite for an increasing number of jobs.

In a survey of more than 400 HR directors, seven in 10 (73%) said a worker’s vaccination status would have an impact on their return to the workplace, with a third of those polled (33%) saying only vaccinated staff would go back. Only 15% of HR directors said vaccination status would have no bearing on their decision to return a staff member to the workplace or not.

Outside the care sector, businesses in the UK are currently free to decide whether or not to impose a vaccination requirement on their staff. Other countries, including France, Greece and Australia, have also implemented mandatory vaccination in the care sector.

Meanwhile, in the US, new rules require most federal employees to be vaccinated, with similar orders in place in Canada and Greece. The US also obliges companies with more than 100 employees to require staff to be vaccinated or face mandatory testing.

Jack Beaman, CEO and Co-founder of Indeed Flex, said: “Many companies are still adjusting to the complexities of staffing successfully in a pandemic. From juggling hybrid working practices to treading the right line on vaccination, not to mention attracting the people they need to grow, recruitment strategy has become business critical for a wide range of employers. While Government legislation is soon set to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory for care sector workers, employers in many other customer-facing sectors are voluntarily taking a similar approach.

“Even though a clear majority of HR directors is opting to prioritise staff and customer safety by demanding that all workers be vaccinated, these decisions are not always straightforward. With many sectors enduring a full-blown staffing crisis, as the number of available workers fails to keep up with employer demand, those recruiting must also factor in the need to appeal to as wide a pool of candidates as possible.”