18 percent of Americans say they would quit their job over vaccine, mask mandates

Employed Americans said they are most likely to quit a job immediately if faced with COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask mandates, a new Morning Consult poll reveals.

When asked to describe something their employer could do to make them submit their resignation on the spot, 18 percent of respondents mentioned "vaccine, mask, or testing requirements," even without Morning Consult having mentioned COVID-19 in the prompt. The second-most cited reason was pay cuts — 14 percent of respondents said they would quit if their employer reduced their salary "for no good cause or reason."

Notably, the 18 percent opposed to vaccination and mask mandates "skews heavily Republican compared with the poll's broader sample of working Americans, and is also less likely to have graduated from college." Of the 18 percent, just under half — 47 percent — are Republicans, and 76 percent forwent higher education.

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Executives are attempting to navigate the "difficult terrain" of vaccination mandates, which could "impact not only their employer branding, but the health and safety of their staff," writes Morning Consult.

"You take a reputational risk upfront, but you may be saving yourself from an outbreak of the infection later," said Anna Tavis, a clinical associate professor and academic director at the New York University School of Professional Studies Division of Programs in Business. "Employers are going to be weighing the risks of losing a certain percentage of their employees, but at the same time, protecting the rest."

Morning Consult surveyed 1,119 and 1,067 working Americans from June 23-27, 2021. The latter group has a margin of error of three percentage points. See more results at Morning Consult.