On August 3, Tyson announced that it would require vaccination for all employees. At that time, under half of the company’s workers were fully vaccinated. Now, just under two months later, the company says 91% of its workforce is fully vaccinated, the New York Times reports.
Tyson has not faced any lawsuits over its mandate, and only “a handful” of employees have quit because of it. This fits with recent survey findings that reveal that threats of quitting over vaccine mandates are often just threats.
According to an article in The Conversation, in a sample of more than 1,000 US workers, almost half (48%) said they would quit or look for another job if their employer issued a vaccine mandate. However, data from companies that have mandates suggest that very few workers actually follow through — most choose to get the vaccine. “While it is easy and cost-free to tell a pollster you’ll quit your job, actually doing so when it means losing a paycheck you and your family may depend upon is another matter,” the authors wrote.
Claudia Coplein, Tyson’s chief medical officer, told the New York Times that the key to encouraging vaccination is just listening to people’s concerns. “The most powerful conversations have been when I sat down with somebody who was scared or emotional or otherwise hesitant to get the vaccine, and they just really needed somebody to listen to them with empathy,” she said.
