Gartner Says Most Organizations Will Encourage but Not Require Employee Vaccination
Recent Gartner Survey Shows Just 8% of Firms Planning to Require Employees to Vaccinate Before Returning to the Workplace
Figure 1. Company Actions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines
Hybrid workforce
Respondents didn’t envisage a return to 2019 working practices even with the vaccine rollout taking place. More than half of respondents think less than 50% of their employees will want to return to the workplace, suggesting the hybrid workforce will likely outlast the pandemic. Just 9% think that 76%-100% of their workforce want to return to the office.
“Legal and compliance leaders need to re-evaluate the ‘band-aid’ policy fixes put in place in 2020 in areas such as remote work,” said Mr. Audet. “Many of the changes that seemed temporary at the time have become established ways of working, and it’s crucial to ensure that the legal policies and procedures put in place at the start of the pandemic are suitable for the long-term.”
Most legal and compliance leaders don’t foresee a return to normal business operations until at least Q3-Q4 2021, with many of those predictions being pushed back to “sometime in 2022” in the latest surveys. Even when the vaccine is widely available 60% of respondents still anticipate keeping all workplace safety measures they have in place, such as wearing masks and social distancing.
“Legal and HR leaders are generally taking a wait-and-see approach,” said Mr. Audet. “They want to learn more about the efficacy of the vaccines in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the speed at which the public can be vaccinated before rolling back safety precautions.”
Gartner clients can register for the webinar: Understanding the Impact of a COVID-19 Vaccine on Legal, Compliance and HR Strategy.
Non clients can register for this complimentary webinar: The Impact of the COVID-19 Vaccine on Your Strategy or download an eBook on the Future of Legal.
About the Gartner Legal & Compliance Practice
The Gartner Legal & Compliance practice brings together in-depth research and analysis, peer-based best practices, metrics and data to offer legal and compliance leaders a platform to make the choices that will drive their business forward and deliver results. Additional information is available at //www.gartner.com/en/legal-compliance. Follow news and updates from the Gartner Legal & Compliance Practice on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities today and build the successful organizations of tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and an objective resource for more than 14,000 enterprises in more than 100 countries — across all major functions, in every industry and enterprise size.
To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business, visit gartner.com.