Activision Blizzard Removes COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Employees

gamerant.com:

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the world, leading many companies to shutter their in-person offices during the worst of it. Once things started to return to semi-normal, some employees were tasked with returning to their brick and mortar locations, albeit with COVID-19 vaccines required to do so.

Needless to say, the COVID-19 vaccine requirement caused some conflict, as some weren't happy that their employment had to be tied to a shot. Now, with the pandemic becoming better-controlled, Activision Blizzard has announced that it's doing away with its vaccine requirements.

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Previously, Activision Blizzard revealed that it would begin moving game development back to a physical location where the employees could cooperate and work together face-to-face. Now that move is continuing, with Activision Blizzard releasing a letter to its employees informing them of the removal of the vaccine requirement. Activision Blizzard says it's doing this in keeping with other companies' decisions to try and get back to normal, and it's encouraging its employees to come back to the office regardless of their vaccination status.

According to the letter, employees who don't want to return due to concerns about the risks will need to speak with their manager, but it's unclear what the outcome of that situation will be. Activision is highlighting the «benefits of in-person collaboration» of its devs working together, rather than remotely, but remote work has been possible. It may be that employees who can't or won't return to the office will be allowed to continue working from home.

Activision also points out that it will 'act quickly' if COVID-19 cases begin to spike