Employees at Facebook and Google will be obliged to be vaccinated before returning to work.
Google and Facebook have become the first two digital behemoths to say that when their employees return to their offices or campuses, they will be required to be vaccinated.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the policy in an email and a blog post, saying it would be implemented in the United States in the next weeks and in other places in the coming months as vaccines became more widely available.
The effort by the top tech companies comes as governments around the world consider creating "vaccine passports," which would allow individuals to travel freely. According to reports, US President Joe Biden will ask civilian federal employees to be vaccinated or face testing.
Google's Pichai announced in a blog post that the company will begin requiring immunizations for employees on campus and will extend volunteer work from home until October 18th.
“In March of 2020, we made the early decision to send employees home to slow down the spread of Covid,” he wrote. “We’ve continued to cover the full wages of on campus workers who couldn’t perform their jobs because of office closures. And, we’ve made sure that Googlers and our extended workforce have access to vaccines as soon as they are available locally.”
Pichai stated that seeing high vaccination rates among Google employees in locations where vaccines are widely available was encouraging, which is why the company felt comfortable opening parts of its offices to employees who wished to return early.
“Getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the months ahead,” Pichai wrote. “As we look toward a global return to our offices, I wanted to share two key updates.”
“First, anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated,” Pichai stated. “We’re rolling this policy out in the US in the coming weeks and will expand to other regions in the coming months.”
Pichai did not say how Google plans to enforce this or what will happen if employees refuse to be vaccinated.
He did say, however, that the implementation may vary depending on local conditions and regulations, and that it will not take effect until vaccines are widely available in the area where a person works.
“Second, we are extending our global voluntary work-from-home policy through 18 October,” Pichai wrote. “We recognise that many Googlers are seeing spikes in their communities caused by the Delta variant and are concerned about returning to the office. This extension will allow us time to ramp back into work while providing flexibility for those who need it.”
Pichai stated that Google will continue to monitor the data and will notify employees at least 30 days in advance of its complete return to work plans.
Google began expediting the partial reopening of offices in the United States in April, and, like Apple, aimed to have employees back to work at least three days a week on September 1.
However, a month later, in May 2021, the company reversed course and began offering employees more flexible options for working from home or at the office. It also announced that 20% of its employees will be able to work from home on a permanent basis.
In May 2020, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg anticipated that half of the company's workers would work remotely during the next decade.
Employees at Facebook can also work remotely full-time and relocate, however, their salary may be changed based on their new locations.
This allows some employees to relocate to states in the United States where housing costs are less expensive than in California.
However, Facebook, like Google, will require employees to be vaccinated before returning to work.
A spokesman for Facebook shared a statement from Lori Goler, the company's VP of People, on Twitter, outlining the company's new vaccine policy.
“As out offices reopen, we will be requiring anyone coming to work at any of our US campuses to be vaccinated,” Goler wrote. “How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations.”
“We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves,” Goler said.
“We continue to work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritise everyone’s health and safety,” she concluded.
Google and Facebook's vaccination decisions come after medical groups in the United States recommended Covid-19 immunizations for healthcare employees.
Because of the Delta version, Apple announced last week that it would delay its reopening until at least October, a month later than intended.
