Business

Investment firm Vanguard offers $1,000 to employees to get vaccinated

Investment giant Vanguard will give $1,000 to any employee who can prove they’ve gotten one of the COVID-19 vaccines by October.

The offer will apply to staff who got vaccinated before the incentive was extended as well as to those who roll up their sleeves and get the shot between now and October, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar.

“We are offering a vaccine incentive for crew who provide Covid-19 vaccination proof,” a Vanguard spokeswoman told Bloomberg, adding that the company rewards employees “who have taken the time to protect themselves, each other, and our communities by being vaccinated.”

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard said the incentive would only be offered to US-based employees, according to Insider. That accounts for most of the company’s 17,300 employees.

The investment firm, which had a whopping $7.2 trillion under management as of January, announced earlier this year its plans to adopt a hybrid work model that allows employees to work remotely on Mondays and Fridays.

It’s latest vaccination incentive comes as companies across the country grapple with return-to-office planning, complicated further by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Vanguard’s hefty incentive stops short of the vaccination mandates for in-office staff that other companies, including Google, Facebook and Walmart, have rolled out over the past few days.

Vanguard’s rival BlackRock has said it won’t allow unvaccinated employees to enter its US offices. The New York-based investment firm required workers to report their vaccination status by the end of June.