Around 70 per cent of all employers surveyed would either not allow employees who refuse to get vaccinated to step into the workplace or would ask them to quit the organization. Over 82 per cent of the workforce surveyed and employers agree vaccination should be made mandatory in the workplace.

As India hits a historic milestone of administering 100 crore Covid vaccines, a study by the world's #1 job site Indeed shows almost all employer and employee respondents (94% and 87% respectively) want people coming in to work to be vaccinated with at least a single dose. 

While acknowledging the achievement of the 100 crore vaccines mark, Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch & President, Bosch Group in India said, "Administering 100 crore COVID-19 vaccines is a magnanimous feat for a country that is well on its way to returning to normalcy. This triumph is a testament to the unwavering dedication and relentless efforts from our government, scientists, and frontline warriors in curbing the spread of infections." 

Vaccination rates are increasing progressively. But, as offices reopen, some employers are taking matters into their own hands by mandating vaccination. 70% of all employers surveyed would either not allow employees who refuse to get vaccinated to step into the workplace or would ask them to quit the organization. 82% of the workforce surveyed and employers agree vaccination should be made mandatory in the workplace. Getting employees vaccinated ensures staff and customers are safe and business operations run seamlessly. Time will tell how this trend evolves.

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed said “Vaccination has emerged as a top hiring trend. Some businesses are either making it mandatory or heavily encouraging vaccination among their new hires. But, the common trend across employees and employers is that a majority of both employers (52%) and employees (61%) are in favour of Hybrid work models as compared with either going to work every day or working from home every day. The future of work is definitely hybrid.” 

Employees and employers also agreed on transparency. Nearly half of all employees leave the matter of vaccine transparency in the hands of their employers. While 87% of all employee respondents believe entry to the workplace should be for people who are vaccinated at least once, 43% believe that people coming into the workplace need not carry vaccination certificates and 41% think they need not know the vaccination status of other employees. This is probably because they are aware that their employer may not allow employees who aren’t vaccinated to enter the workplace.

"The future of work is no longer binary, but a blend of several workplace formats driving growth in the post-pandemic world. With businesses slowly reopening their workplaces after a long spell of remote and hybrid working models, it is crucial to fully vaccinate the employees if we are to see a spurt of growth in the India story. As India Inc., we must diligently support the government and the society with the vaccination efforts, and help the nation emerge stronger from this pandemic," Bosch Group's president Bhattacharya adds.

The strong support for vaccinations indicates a desire to leave behind a pandemic that has taken an economic, physical and emotional toll on employees. Close to half of all workers (59%) surveyed said they had been somewhat and greatly affected by the pandemic. 

The pandemic has brought a paradigm shift and employee well-being and safety are now of utmost priority for companies across the globe. As responsible corporates, numerous companies have included their clients, investors, and other stakeholders in our vaccination drives. Also, the reimbursement policy covers the vaccination expenses of the employees working remotely and their dependents in various organisations. Joseph Nirmal, Head of Human Resources (People) at CredAvenue advocates a hybrid setup at work that offers flexibility to employees, he said, "We also realise the benefits of face-to-face interactions over virtual setup. Consequently, we have given our employees flexible options of ‘In-office Collaboration Day’ and ‘Focus Day’. While the former gives the employees the much-required facetime with their colleagues, the latter allows them to multitask both work and personal duties at home.”

Case in point: An overwhelming majority of employees (91%) want their employers to incentivize them to get vaccinated. However, half of all employers (51%) do not wish to sweeten the deal and incentivize employees for getting vaccinated.