As more workplaces initiate a vaccine mandate policy for employees, nearly 5% of unvaccinated workers have decided to quit their jobs in protest, a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation said.
The survey also found that one-quarter of workers said that their employer has mandate vaccination, a sharp rise from the 19 percent who said the same answer in September.
President Biden announced last month that all businesses with more than 100 employees must require all workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine or be subject to weekly testing. The new policy — which was put into the hands of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — is still under review but could potentially cover over two-thirds of private businesses if implemented, NBC News reported.
According to the KFF survey, one-third of vaccinated workers that are still employed said they would rather quit their job instead of adhering to the federal mandates.
“Right now only a quarter of workers say that their employer has required them to get a vaccine, so it’s still quite hypothetical for these workers who say they would leave their jobs,” said Lunna Lopes, a senior survey analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. She added that the results indicate “a sense of people’s attitudes” toward mandated action.
Many unions and private organizations have strongly warned the White House about the possible detrimental effects the vaccine and testing mandate could have on their businesses. The National Association of Manufacturers was among the organizations that did so.
“At small facilities with barely more than 100 employees in particular, the departure of even one highly valued team member could lead to production challenges if not managed or planned appropriately,” wrote Robyn Boerstling, a lobbyist for the group last week. “For larger companies, even losing 1 percent of a production team could have operational consequences given the specialized nature of a skilled manufacturing worker.”
The KFF survey went on to say that 60% of unvaccinated workers said they would seek a medical, religious or other type of exemption to avoid getting the vaccine.
“There’s a lot of options that people would try to exhaust before leaving a job,” said Lopes
According to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 58% of the country is fully vaccinated, 70% of whom are adults.
