JUST IN @intel, one of Arizona's largest private employers w 10,000-person workforce, offers employees $250 to get vaccinated, plus $100 food vouchers for hourly workers, per CEO msg today. pic.twitter.com/1z8sWng9jp
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) August 18, 2021
Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC ) is offering $250 cash bonuses to employees who get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year, though it is not requiring shots for now.
On Wednesday, Intel’s chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger urged the company’s 111,000 workers to get vaccinated, writing in a memo, “I’m a data guy and the data shows that vaccination is a critical element in ending this pandemic.”
“The risk of infection among vaccinated individuals is reduced about three-fold, and the risk of severe disease or death is reduced by ten-fold or greater,” Gelsinger wrote.
Employees who are fully vaccinated will be given a $250 cash bonus, and hourly workers will receive an additional $100 food voucher. Those who have already been vaccinated can also claim the incentive.
In order to make it more convenient for employees to get their shots, the semiconductor chip giant grants up to four hours of paid time off for each vaccination appointment, a spokesperson told CNET. It will also extend the incentive expiration date for workers in countries that do not yet have vaccines available.
Gelsinger said the company is “dedicated to making it easy to get vaccinated,” which involves collaboration with governments and health authorities to make vaccines available for employees “as well as their household members and Intel contract workers as supply becomes available.”
He added that more than 47,000 vaccines have been administered or are in the process of being administered so far at Intel’s distribution sites.
As to whether or not remote employees can return to their offices, Gelsinger said the answer is complicated because of the difference in coronavirus cases across different regions, and the company is considering a number of factors when it comes to reopening plans.
Following a new surge of COVID-19 cases linked to the fast-spreading Delta variant, several major tech companies, including Facebook, Uber, Google, AT&T, Microsoft and Twitter, have enacted vaccine mandates for employees.
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Source: Equities News
