August 18, 2021 - GALLUP

Workers Have Strong Views on Vaccine Mandates; More in Favor

Jeffrey M. Jones and Sangeeta Agrawal

Story Highlights

• 65% have strong opinions on employer vaccine mandates
• More employees favor than oppose vaccine mandates
• 9% in late July say employer is requiring vaccines

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. workers hold strong opinions on employer vaccination requirements, with two-thirds saying they either strongly favor (36%) or strongly oppose (29%) these. Overall, employees are more likely to favor such mandates, with 52% saying they are in favor, 38% opposed and 10% neutral.

The results are based on Gallup's COVID-19 tracking survey, which interviews a representative sample of U.S. adults. The latest data come from a July 19-26 survey, which was conducted before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance in response to the spread of the coronavirus' delta variant in the U.S. This guidance has led to several prominent companies delaying back-to-work plans, requiring employees to be vaccinated or requiring employees to wear face masks at work.

Gallup first asked about employee vaccination requirements in May. Since then, there has been an increase in the percentage who strongly favor them, from 29% to 36%. The total percentage of employees who strongly favor or favor vaccination requirements is up from 46% to 52%. Over this time, the percentage opposed has held steady (including the percentage strongly opposed), while the percentage neutral has declined five points to 10%.

At the time of the July survey, 9% of employees reported their employer was requiring workers to be vaccinated, while most, 62%, said their employer was encouraging vaccination but not requiring it. The remaining 29% said their employer had not issued guidance on vaccines.

Since May, there has been a slight but statistically meaningful uptick in the percentage of employees who say their employer is requiring vaccines, from 5% to 9%. This change has been accompanied by a decrease in the percentage who say their employer is encouraging but not requiring a COVID-19 vaccine.

On-Site Workers Divided on Vaccines; Remote Workers Endorse Them

A separate Gallup survey conducted in June, with over 9,000 U.S. workers, found employees who were working fully remotely or were hybrid workers (partially remote and partially on-site) were much more likely than fully on-site workers to favor employer vaccination requirements. Sixty-two percent of fully remote and 54% of hybrid workers were in favor of their employer requiring vaccines, compared with 41% of fully on-site workers. In fact, fully on-site workers were as likely to oppose vaccination requirements (42%) as to favor them, with more strongly opposed to them (33%) than strongly favoring them (28%).

Cash Incentives, Time Off Could Boost Employee Vaccination Rates

As of late July, 66% of all U.S. workers reported they had been fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19, while another 8% planned to be. That leaves one in four employees who do not plan to get vaccinated.

The June Workforce survey asked unvaccinated employees what would make them more likely to get vaccinated. Notably, 62% of these employees -- equivalent to 20% of all employees -- said nothing would change their mind, in line with the 18% of all U.S. adults who can be considered vaccine resistant. However, the June Workforce survey did identify some actions that could convince employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Chief among these are cash bonuses or incentives, which 24% of unvaccinated employees say would increase their likelihood to get vaccinated. Time off to get vaccinated and time off to recover from side effects were also among the most persuasive options. Few employees said that their company providing them with more information about the vaccine would encourage them to get one.

Employer Incentives Not Necessarily Most Effective Ones

The incentives companies might offer and the ones they are offering do not align that well. Employees most commonly say their organization is offering them information about where to get the COVID-19 vaccine, with 48% reporting this. But at least four in 10 employees say their employers are offering time off to receive the vaccine or to recover from its side effects.

One in four workers say their employer is offering on-site vaccinations. Very few, 6%, say their employer is offering a cash incentive. Twenty-four percent of employees say their organization is not offering any of these inducements to get vaccinated.

Bottom Line

The recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections has forced employers and employees to reexamine worker safety. After several months when the coronavirus situation was improving, many large employers were planning to have workers return to the work site, if they had not already done so. Now, many employers are delaying those plans, and several major companies have announced that their employees must be vaccinated in order to return to work. U.S. workers also seem to support these requirements, but opinion among those opposed tends to be strong.

The strong feelings about COVID-19 vaccination requirements puts companies and workers at a crossroads. The majority of employees are vaccinated and, for the sake of their safety, many strongly favor requiring their coworkers to be vaccinated. Yet, companies also risk losing productive and talented workers who disagree with their vaccination policies and may have to choose between getting vaccinated or quitting their jobs. This gap may close with further encouragement of voluntary vaccination, because Gallup data suggest some unvaccinated workers can be persuaded to get vaccinated with certain incentives; however, these workers constitute a minority of this group. Either way, employers' decisions about vaccination requirements are likely to impact their company culture and employee retention.

Anthony Blue contributed to this release.