Employers usually pepper job ads with qualification requirements, salary ranges and employee benefit information. The latest inclusion on job postings is a sign of the COVID times: vaccine mandate requirements.
Two new reports show a surge in the number of job postings in the U.S. and Canada requiring potential employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. New data from Ladders, a job site, reveals a surge of more than 5,000% since January 2021 in job posts listing vaccination requirements. Ladder researchers reviewed 3.8 million high-paying career job postings in the U.S. and Canada over the past two years. Prior to November 2020, when COVID vaccines became available, only 54 high-paying job postings required a vaccination in a typical month—all of which referenced influenza. This year, all of the high-paying job openings that require vaccination referenced COVID-19.
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“We are seeing these increases across a variety of industry sectors. In the past, it was mostly healthcare jobs that had required vaccines,” says Ladders CEO Marc Cenedella. “Now, we are seeing this trend across all industries, from small businesses to large corporations.”
And data from job site Indeed found that the share of job posts that require a COVID-19 vaccine were up 34% on Aug. 7 when compared to the prior month. Other jobs ads aren’t as specific; they ask for vaccination without mentioning COVID. Those listings are up 90% over the same period, according to Indeed.
The striking new data proves that COVID-19 vaccine requirements in job postings will become a “massive trend,” Cenedella says.
“The fact that any job postings mention a vaccine mandate is astounding. Employment requirements and preconditions are normally included in employee handbooks, not on job listings,” he explains. “Plus, we know that not every employer mandating vaccination includes that in the job description. So this is truly just the tip of the iceberg. It’s the beginning of a massive trend.”
The increase in employers including vaccine requirements in job ads comes as Delta cases surge nationwide and result in sharp increases in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Given the surge and high transmission rates, vaccination efforts from employers are getting more serious. After months of encouraging workers to get inoculated, employers including United Airlines, Microsoft, Tyson Foods and more recently announced they will require all workers to get vaccinated.
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Cenedella says he expects the number of employers including vaccination requirements in job postings to further grow during the fall and winter as more companies follow suit.
“I expect this exponential growth will continue throughout the fall and winter, especially after vaccines receive full FDA approval.”