A game of chicken… The pandemic was tough for Tyson. Last year, meat giants pushed to keep facilities open as Covid spread, which resulted in shutdowns and 150+ worker deaths. But after masks and testing failed to control the surge, Tyson required its 120K workers to get vaxxed in August, becoming one of the first large employers to mandate vaccines. The move was unpopular, but it worked:
- 96% of Tyson workers are now vaxxed, after 61K workers got jabbed post-mandate.
- Tyson’s profit jumped 40%+ last quarter from 2020, despite $55M in Covid expenses.
The great vax rush… is just starting. Yesterday, Biden said private employers with 100 workers or more have until January 4 to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated — or make sure they get weekly testing. The plan covers a whopping 84M workers, and it’s been polarizing: 50K Americans have died from Covid since October, but four in 10 say they’ll quit if they’re required to get vaxxed. This isn’t Biden’s first mandate. In September, he announced similar requirements for 4M+ federal workers.
- Early adopters: Google, IBM, and United Airlines already imposed their own mandates, and few workers quit.
- Late vaxxers: Walmart, Amazon, JPMorgan, and others still don’t require employee vaccination. Last month, only 13% of businesses had vax mandates.
- Objectors: Trade groups representing UPS, Disney, and Fidelity say Biden’s rule is too expensive. Twenty-four states threatened to sue to block it.
It’s good to prep for the inevitable… even when it seems evitable. Tyson is in a better spot than others because it adopted an unpopular policy early. Now it may dodge expensive last-minute vax pushes and big fines. Companies with unvaxxed employees could pay a $14K fine for each noncompliant worker, which could add up for companies like Walmart, which has 1.6M employees. Experts say Biden’s mandate could cut the number of unvaxxed workers from 25M to 3.4M.