PHOENIX — No vaccine, no problem. That’s the tagline some businesses in the Valley are betting on to hook people to apply to one of their many empty job positions, as the worker shortage continues to affect industries across the board.
Some online job postings read “No vaccine needed” or “No vaccine required” along with the job title in the headline.
The new recruitment effort is just one of the tactics Sameer Trehan said he has used to hire more drivers for his trucking business, Delta Shipping Inc. which operates in 46 states across the U.S.
“Out of desperation I added that to the ad,” Trehan said. “I was hoping that it would grab some attention.”
Before the pandemic, Trehan said he paid his CDL A truck drivers $60,000 to $80,000 a year. But now, as the nation faces a world pandemic and there’s a shortage of workers all-around, he increased his salaries by 40%, offered full benefits and extra bonuses, but that has not been enough.
“I have half my fleet sitting across the country because of lack of drivers,” Trehan said. “I have 18-wheelers just parked with no one to operate them.”
Trehan said his last resort to try was to include that the vaccine was not required higher up on his online job ads.
“I’m aware that most of our drivers are not in any hurry to get vaccinated,” he said. “So, I posted an ad over the last few weeks in several states.”
Job applications now include ‘No vaccine required’ on ads
The worker shortage has largely impacted the healthcare system, where vaccine mandates have been a mix of a battle and debate.
Some employees are opting to lose their jobs over immunization requirements, FirstLight Home Care of Goodyear is capitalizing on that.
“We were having difficulty finding caregivers up to that point when we added we don’t require a vaccine,” said Regina Jones, one of the owners of the at-home caregiver company. “Now we are able to help keep [those healthcare workers] in that field of caring for people and not require the vaccine.”
On the first day of having their online job posting live, part-owner Leslie Newmann said they had about 60 people apply. Most of them were healthcare workers or caregivers from other companies that require a COVID-19 vaccine, she added.
“It’s not that we’re against the vaccinations, it’s just that we want to let everybody know that it’s a choice,” Newmann said.
Both Jones and Newmann said they have vaccinated themselves.
By being a non-medical home care business, they are allowed not to require their employees to be immunized, the pair said.
“Clients request non-vaccinated caregivers specifically, so we accommodate that, we also accommodate clients that require us, vaccinated caregivers,” Newmann said.
For healthcare workers, the ‘no vaccine requirement’ ad proved to be successful, but that did not have the same effect on truck drivers.
“I just got three applicants in the three weeks,” Trehan said. “they are in so high demand, by the time I do hire someone, I’m losing another one to another company… things are so bad in our industry.”
Trehan said his business is barely staying afloat and the business just making enough to make payroll. A position he said won’t hold for too long.
“If this continues for a few more months, I’m not sure our company will be able to sustain,” he added.
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