Several hundred Google employees have signed and circulated a manifesto opposing the company’s Covid vaccine mandate, posing the latest challenge for leadership as it approaches key deadlines for returning workers to offices in person.
The Biden administration has ordered U.S. companies with 100 or more workers to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19 by Jan. 4. In response, Google asked its more than 150,000 employees to upload their vaccination status to its internal systems by Dec. 3, whether they plan to come into the office or not, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC.
The company has also said that all employees who work directly or indirectly with government contracts must be vaccinated — even if they are working from home.
“Vaccines are key to our ability to enable a safe return to office for everyone and minimize the spread of Covid-19 in our communities,” wrote Chris Rackow, Google VP of security, in an email sent near the end of October.
Rackow said the company was already implementing requirements, so the changes from Biden’s executive order were “minimal.” His email gave a deadline of Nov. 12 for employees to request exemptions for reasons such as religious beliefs or medical conditions and said that exceptions would be granted on a case-by-case basis.
The manifesto within Google, which has been signed by at least 600 Google employees, asks company leaders to retract the vaccine mandate and create a new one that is “inclusive of all Googlers,” arguing leadership’s decision will have outsize influence in corporate America. It also calls on employees to “oppose the mandate as a matter of principle” and tells employees to not let the policy alter their decision if they’ve already chosen not to get the Covid vaccine.
Although only a tiny portion of Google’s overall workforce has signed the document, momentum could grow as the return-to-work deadline nears. Most of the company’s employees are expected to return to physical offices three days a week starting Jan. 10.
The manifesto is also the latest example of how unusually outspoken Google’s employees are. They have previously debated everything from government contracts to cafeteria food changes, sometimes spurring the company to change course. For instance, in 2018, the company did not renew a Pentagon contract to work on artificial intelligence after some employees complained it could be used for deadly purposes.
A spokesperson for Google said the company stands behind its policy: “As we’ve stated to all our employees and the author of this document, our vaccination requirements are one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running. We firmly stand behind our vaccination policy.”