Walmart’s mandate applies to office workers and traveling managers but not to store and warehouse employees. Disney said it had begun conversations with unions to expand its requirement to those workers.
Employers held off for months on making decisions about vaccine mandates, worried about legal and political pushback. But facing renewed pandemic restrictions, and with encouragement from government leaders, a growing number of the country’s biggest companies have been embracing the idea. On Friday, Walmart and the Walt Disney Company introduced new requirements that some employees be vaccinated. They followed similar announcements this week from Google, Facebook, Uber and others. Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, with nearly 1.6 million workers, said vaccines would be mandatory for employees in its headquarters and for managers who traveled in the United States. The mandate does not apply to employees in stores, clubs, and distribution and fulfillment centers. “We believe we have an important role to play and believe the requirement for vaccinations for our leaders is key to driving toward an end to this pandemic,” Walmart’s chief executive, Doug McMillon, said in a memo announcing the mandate. “Let’s set the example.” Walmart did not provide the number of employees covered by the mandate, but it previously said it planned to house up to 17,000 workers in its new headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. Disney said salaried and nonunion hourly U.S. employees at its sites must be fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated workers who are already on site will have 60 days to get the immunization, and new hires will be required to be fully vaccinated before starting work.
