Aug 13 - International Business Machines Corp announced on Friday that it would allow only fully vaccinated U.S. employees to return to offices, which are scheduled to open from Sept. 7, given the rapid spread of delta variant of COVID -19.
As of Sept. 7, we will continue to open many of our U.S. sites, if local clinical conditions allow, the week of Sept. 7. However, the reopenings will be for fully vaccinated employees who opt to come into the office, Chief Human Resources Officer Nickle LaMoreaux said in a memo sent to employees.
The resurgence of COVID - 19 cases in the United States due to the Delta variant and the new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that requires fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks have led companies to change their plans on return to office, vaccinations and masking.
The technology firm also asked its employees to get fully vaccinated, joining other tech companies that wanted to help fight the spread of the virus.
Earlier on Thursday, Facebook Inc said it would push the office return date to all U.S. and some international employees until January 2022, while AT&T Inc said it would require management employees to be vaccinated before entering a work location.