Even without President Biden's vaccine mandate on private employers, the implementation and enforcement of which has been suspended in light of legal challenges, many businesses have moved forward on their own, requiring employees to get the jab to stay employed. As we've seen in the healthcare industry, many nurses and doctors have been let go for refusing the shot. But where are they and others in similar positions seeking employment now?
Seeking to capitalize on the exodus of workers amid a nationwide labor shortage, some companies are now openly recruiting the unvaccinated to fill empty positions, and an online job board has launched seeking to help connect the two.
NoVaxMandate.org has brought in more than 2.25 million unique visitors since its August launch, according to the New York Post, and more than 20,000 resumes have been uploaded.
Primal Life Organics, an Akron, Ohio-based maker of natural skincare and dental products, saw a spike in applications after the company added the phrase “*NO VACCINE REQUIRED*” to its job listings, CEO Trina Felber told CNN.
Applicants didn’t seem deterred from the fact that the listings included a caveat that said any policy on vaccination status could be changed at any time.
“It was at that point that we were then able to start hiring people,” Felber told the outlet, noting that she hired six new employees after advertising the lack of a company vaccine mandate.
Felber added that she believes “that the right to choose and the freedom of choice is a basic need that every human has.”
When Pflugerville, Texas-based Spanish Oak Assisted Living added the phrase “NO VACCINE REQUIRED” in the title of a job posting for a certified nursing assistant, they similarly saw an uptick in applications, owner Philip Dulock told CNN.
He added that they allowed for unvaccinated workers to try to compete with bigger health care organizations in the region that would only hire vaccinated people.
Because most staff and residents are vaccinated, he said he’s not concerned about a small minority of unvaccinated workers, according to CNN. (NY Post)
Many are also giving up on their past careers, taking jobs in completely unrelated fields.
"We are also seeing a massive migration from corporations to smaller businesses," JP Valadez told CNN Business.
"Many in the health industry are completely abandoning their career path in favor of something completely different. We are seeing nurses and doctors apply at travel agencies, for example, and just the other day we saw a resume from a NASA data analyst who was willing to work as a plumber or an electrician as long as the employer respected their values and their bodily autonomy."
