A leaked memo from  Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell seen by the Financial Times suggests the company may introduce compulsory vaccinations for staff, beginning with offshore workers.

Employees in other parts of the business could be subject to mandatory vaccination ‘over time’, the memo said.

‘For staff who refuse to comply with a vaccine mandate, we would make all reasonable efforts to avoid terminating their employment but will be faced with no alternative but to do so,’ the paper quoted the document as saying.

Shell employs some 8,000 people in the Netherlands where compulsory vaccination is unlikely to be accepted. Unions and employers said recently the high vaccination rate in the Netherlands would not necessitate such a move.

Shell has so far refused to comment.