Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | August 29, 2022 25 FOCUS: LAW JOIN US ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 AS WE CELEBRATE THE 2022 HONOREES! For the past 26 years, the Hartford Business Journal's 40 Under Forty Awards have recognized outstanding young professionals in the Greater Hartford area that excel in their industries through their leadership roles. These individuals are driven by success, motivated by challenges and are role models for their peers. RENTSCHLER FIELD, EAST HARTFORD, CT | 5:30-8:30PM | PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED. TICKETS AND TABLES NOW ON SALE AT: WWW.HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS/40-UNDER-FORTY-AWARDS-2022 PRESENTING SPONSOR: SUPPORTING SPONSOR: continue to fight for talent they're realizing that being flexible where an employee works may be an important factor." Vaccine mandates Zeid said that most of the compa- nies that enacted vaccine mandates over the past year-plus are keeping them in place, but he's heard much less about new mandates in recent months. "I have not done a new manda- tory vaccination policy for a client in probably six months — we're just not seeing new ones coming into play so it's really a maintenance of the status quo," Zeid said. Schwartz said he's also hearing less about vaccine mandates from his clients. "Last spring and summer there were lots of calls about implementing vaccine mandates and such, but those calls have virtually dried up," Schwartz said. Many companies in industries like biotech, education and health care that enacted mandates over the past few years are keeping them in place, but other industries aren't necessarily, Schwartz added. "Many employers have either quietly dropped the mandates or are enforcing them a little more loosely than they have in the past," Schwartz said. Zeid said companies have also eased some alternative health and safety measures, like employee symptom surveys, mask mandates and temperature checks before someone enters an office. However, the potential for omicron boosters this fall could change that over the next several months. Schwartz said it'll be interesting to see if employers require those shots, or "stay a little bit more on the sidelines." "Employers have been letting employees make their own judgement on those," Schwartz said of boosters. Huntington said most of her clients are healthcare organizations, so their employees are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Vaccine mandates have remained for most of those entities, including hospitals, but many aren't requiring boosters. Like hybrid work, Dowd and Huntington said vaccine mandates could influence certain people's deci- sions about working for a company. "We're seeing less policing by employers and more reliance on employees acting reasonable, like don't come into the office if you've got COVID symptoms or tested positive," Huntington said. Zeid said he expects there will be discussions between employers and workers about the new booster when it comes out, especially if the company has asked its workers to return to the office. 120K 115K 110K 105K 100K Job openings reported by CT employers JUNE 2021 JULY 2021 AUGUST 2021 SEPTEMBER 2021 OCTOBER 2021 NOVEMBER 2021 DECEMBER 2021 JANUARY 2022 FEBRUARY 2022 MARCH 2022 APRIL 2022 MAY 2022 JUNE 2022 104,000 106,000 100,000 104,000 104,000 114,000 105,000 108,000 112,000 115,000 111,000 119,000 105,000 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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