Employees Hesitant to Forgo Masks in the Workplace

Although people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are not longer required to wear masks in many places, more than half of surveyed Americans believe people should not give up mask-wearing in the workplace.

The latest American Staffing Association (ASA) Workforce Monitor® online survey, conducted from June 10–14 by The Harris Poll among 2,066 U.S. adults, found that 57% of surveyed adults believe masks should be worn in the workplace regardless of an employee’s vaccination status. Two-thirds of parents with children under 18 (65%) feel this way, compared with 53% of people without minor children.

“While government officials are rolling back COVID-19 requirements throughout the country, many workers aren’t ready to give up their masks just yet,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and CEO. “As brick-and-mortar workplaces reopen, workers are anxious about being around their colleagues once again. Employers must clearly communicate what steps they are taking to make their workplaces safe for their employees as they reopen.”

Several companies, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley, are requiring employees to show proof of their vaccination status before returning to the workplace. However, the Workforce Monitor survey uncovered a tension between people’s desire to know about co-workers’ vaccine status and their desire to protect the privacy of their own vaccination status. Among survey respondents, 66% believe employees have a right to know if their co-workers have been vaccinated against COVID-19. A similar amount (60%) also say their personal vaccine status is no one’s business but their own.

Surveyed baby boomers (70%) are most insistent on learning their co-worker’s vaccination status, compared with 66% of millennials and 60% of their Generation X counterparts. The largest support for privacy regarding their own COVID-19 vaccine status comes from Generation X (68%), followed by millennials (67%) and baby boomers (52%).

“As work sites reopen across the country, employee concerns about COVID-19 are creating a challenging privacy paradox,” said Wahlquist. “Employees want to know whether their fellow co-workers have been vaccinated but don’t want to make their own status public. In balancing these interests, employers must keep workplace safety considerations top of mind.”