Employers take a shot to head off worker flu; Competition, aging workforce reasons for rise.(News)

Byline: ZACK PHILLIPS

More employers are offering flu vaccines or encouraging their workers to get inoculated this year, consultants and industry executives say.

Some experts attribute the rise to the tumultuous economic climate, which increases the importance of having a productive-and healthy-workforce. Workers who contract the flu either miss work or hurt productivity by spreading the virus to their colleagues. Consultants also cite the aging workforce as a possible reason for the increase, because older workers are more susceptible to the harmful effects of influenza.

According to Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Hewitt Associates Inc., about 88% of the more than 1,200 companies it works …