Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Red Hat impose severe vaccine requirements... 25% to 40% could lose jobs
Some of the largest tech companies in the world are imposing medical requirements on their employees. And the results could be catastrophic.
Earlier this year, Google announced that it will require every employee to be injected with experimental vaccinations (with distinct, known side effects) in order to gain entry into Google offices.
Likewise, Microsoft announced that they are requiring every employee to get said injections. IBM has gone so far as to give a deadline for vaccination of all employees… at which time unvaccinated employees will stop getting paid.
IBM subsidiary (and Linux giant) Red Hat has given employees a November deadline to get vaccinated.
Bloomberg is now reporting that Apple will be requiring all employees to either a) get injected with experimental medications or b) submit to (highly intrusive) daily medical testing.
Twitter. Facebook. The list goes on and on.
Work in tech? Good odds, your employer will be requiring you to be injected with experimental medications. If not now, then certainly over the coming month.
Let’s put aside the legality and constitutionality of said requirements.
And let’s also put aside the ethical concerns here. Of which there are many.
Instead, I would like to pose a logistical thought:
How many tech workers (developers, SysAdmins, Dev-Ops-ers, help desk, tech support, documentation writers, designers, project managers, etc.)… are not yet, or are not planning to be, vaccinated against Covid?
It’s hard to say, exactly.
According to one study, 44% of employees (in general) said they would think about quitting their job if their companies began requiring vaccines. And, among the general populace, a bit over 50% of adults are vaccinated.
Just to narrow things in, let’s focus on Microsoft employees living in Washington.
In Washington State, roughly 63% of adults are vaccinated. Even if we assume that number is higher among Microsoft employees… the likelihood of it being above 75% seems like a pretty big stretch.
What happens when 25% of all employees of Big Tech companies… simply no longer have a job?
Can those Online services stay online and stable?
Can products continue to ship on time? Can users of software, computers, and services get support?
How about security patches? How will losing one quarter of all tech employees impact getting vital security vulnerabilities patched and released be affected?
The question is rhetorical. The results would be absolutely devastating. To individual companies, to companies and people that depend on them… and to the economy as a whole.
But here’s the truly terrifying part: We’re not really talking about 25% of tech companies being fired or quitting.
We’re talking about 35%… or more.
What happens then?
Put aside your political ideals and affiliations for a moment. What happens when you go into work, some time in November or December, and 40%+ of the technical staff are gone? How many people will be left to keep your servers running?
Anyone who has spent time in tech knows exactly what this could mean… the results would be absolutely catastrophic.
Bryan Lunduke has held VP and Director level roles in both Engineering and Marketing at many Tech, Linux, and Video Game companies. He has also served as the Deputy Editor of Linux Journal magazine and worked in Tech Journalism for 15 years. And he is really freaked out right now.
The mandate does not sound like a bright idea.
If 35% of tech workers quit on the same day, it would destroy any big company. Heck, even if 10% did it at once, the results would be catastrophic. However, I suspect that people will cling to their jobs, not coordinate and get fired and replaced one by one at the time that's convenient to their management.