Addressing a challenging healthcare labor market 

The healthcare industry is facing a projected shortage of more than 100,000 workers—from physicians, to nursing assistants, and RNs—by 2028. Mercer examined projected changes to the US healthcare market based on Mercer research and other publicly available data.

While the impacts will vary by position and geography, there are steps  healthcare organizations can take now to minimize potential negative impacts and proactively prepare to address looming talent gaps.

Where do you have opportunities for savings?

Every organization’s staffing challenges will vary. It’s critical to understand what yours may be by taking a close look at the supply/demand risks you may face by occupation and department.

• Where are the greatest risks of not filling vacant positions?
• Is local talent sufficient to fill the gaps?
• If not, what changes in talent strategy will you need to adopt? 

The sources you’re currently using to find talent to fill key roles may not serve your needs moving forward, especially in a competitive healthcare labor market. Now is the time to think about new ways of finding and engaging top talent. 

• Could talent be grown internally through training, development and certification programs?
• How could partnerships with local universities and trade schools be leveraged
• How could current sources be augmented or expanded, both in terms of geographic reach or catchment area and sourcing?

Retention should always be a top priority for healthcare organizations. The time and effort expended to find, hire, onboard, and train staff who reflect the culture and are committed to providing a positive patient experience is significant. Existing staff also provide a potential pipeline of talent to move into new roles.

• In healthcare, attrition is often driven by burnout. Ensure employee well-being by fine-tuning the employee value proposition.
• Focus on pay and benefits, schedule flexibility, career growth opportunities, and job satisfaction.
• Monitor the marketplace regularly to remain competitive with other employers.

Work smarter, not harder, both to reduce staffing demands and to boost employee engagement and satisfaction. This is especially critical for hard to fill roles. By mitigating or eliminating inefficiencies and frustrations, healthcare organizations can promote job satisfaction.

• Lean into advances in analytics to optimize healthcare workforce needs.
• Implement initiatives to reduce the number of people needed for hard to fill roles.
• Leverage technology (e.g., self-check-in) to reduce staffing pressures.
• Identify tasks that can be automated, redistributed, or eliminated.