By: Joe Bousquin
In Construction Dive’s article on the new federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate and how it is increasing small firm attractiveness to unvaccinated construction workers, Casey McKinnon explains that although small firms are benefiting now, the longevity of their attraction won’t last as “For federal contractors, just being under 100 employees doesn’t mean there will not be requirements.” Casey continued, “If they serve as a subcontractor to a prime on a federal job, the same requirements will end up in their contract and apply to them, as well.”
Despite a temporary stay to new federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates, small firms are emphasizing an enticement their bigger competitors just can’t match.
Usually, the largest construction companies can offer the best perks to attract workers.
But as deadlines for federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates draw closer, small firms are emphasizing an enticement their bigger competitors just can’t match: No shot? No problem.
That’s what construction pros are seeing in the wake of the White House’s executive order mandating vaccines for federal contractors, and OSHA’s new emergency temporary standard, which applies to businesses with 100 employees or more.
“For the first time I can remember, small private contractors actually hold an advantage in being able to acquire talent,” said Jacob Binke, a construction executive recruiter at the Detroit-based Birmingham Group. “They’re using it as a selling point that they don’t require the vaccine.”
The attractiveness of that selling point lies in construction’s overall vaccination rate, which has been stubbornly persistent since May, stuck in a narrow range between 53% and 58%, according to data tracked by CPWR, a nonprofit construction safety research firm. That compares to inoculation rates of 80% to 82% for all other occupations.