Iceland MD urges people to get vaccinated as staff absences surge

Iceland managing director Richard Walker has urged colleagues to get vaccinated as the number of staff absences reached a new high at the supermarket.

The retailer, which employs roughly around 30,000 people, said that due to the Omicron variant, staff absences have quadrupled.

During the peak Christmas period, Walker noted that already 700 colleagues had negated work due to contracting the virus.

The new variant has already led to tougher restrictions across mainland Europe as well as in Scotland and Wales.

In England, due to the spread of Omicron, the use of face masks were reintroduced in all indoor spaces including hospitality and retail venues.

Walker tweeted: “Interesting to note that previous lockdowns all coincided with our Covid absence rate breaching 600-650 colleagues. Today’s is 700.

“Please let’s all get jabbed folks! Last thing we want or business needs is another lockdown.”