More and more large American companies are delaying returning to the office until all their employees have been vaccinated. At Google, this also applies to those who work abroad. According to health experts, this is a good evolution.
The employers are thus following American government companies that have already introduced mandatory vaccination.
In an email to its 130,000 employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the return to the office would be postponed from September 1 to October 18. But the company does expect all employees to be vaccinated by then. The obligation will initially apply at Google’s headquarters in California but will subsequently be extended to all 40 countries where Google is active.
Shortly afterwards, Facebook also announced that it would oblige all employees who work in the office to be vaccinated. The internet giants are thus following American airlines such as Delta and United Airlines. In addition, streaming company Netflix now expects all its actors and people who work on the set to be vaccinated.
According to American health experts, this is a good evolution. “If we don’t do this, we’re putting workers and their families at risk,” said public health expert Dr Leana Wen of George Washington University. “Since children under the age of 12 are not currently vaccinated, parents can infect their families if they sit in the office with unvaccinated colleagues.”
Many US public companies have already introduced mandatory vaccination, but less than 10 percent of companies have done so in the private sector. The initiative of Facebook and Google may also prompt other major employers to make the same decision.
