Facebook proposes name change, Southwest backtracks on vaccine mandates, and Zillow blames supply chain home-buying freeze

Hello, communicators:

Big U.S. firms such as General Electric and Union Pacific have announced vaccine mandates for employees in response to President Biden’s Dec. 8 deadline.

Other companies that have announced vaccine mandates for workers include Boeing, IBM, and Raytheon—all federal contractors that fall under Biden’s rules for companies that do business with the federal government. Together with GE and Union Pacific, these companies employ about 300,000 workers.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

“Along with being our best defense against severe Covid-19 illness, vaccines are our best path forward out of the pandemic,” Beth Whited, Union Pacific’s human resources chief, said in a note to staff last week.

It’s proof that the trend on vaccine mandates is going up—and holdouts will face more and more pressure to meet the need as the pandemic threatens to extend into a third year.

Companies that are embracing vaccine mandates aren’t abandoning other efforts to encourage inoculations, either. Union Pacific is offering cash incentives to union workers and vacation time to nonunion employees to incentivize workers to get the jab.

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