The share of job postings containing words such as “hiring urgently” has risen by over 50% since the start of the year, and health care jobs are the most likely to contain them, according to the jobs site Indeed.
Specifically, jobs in home health and home care are most likely to be labeled urgent, reflecting the immense staffing issues that have plagued the sectors generally — and even more so during the COVID-19 crisis.
Nearly 10% of personal care and home health care job postings are using terms like “urgent,” while around over 6% of nursing jobs are labeled as such.
“If the pandemic taught employers anything, it would be to value their workers,” David Coppins, the co-founder and CEO of IntelyCare, told Home Health Care News in an email. “Many have left their jobs and the nursing profession altogether. Data shows 22% of nurses may leave their jobs, and nearly 60% indicated that they became more likely to leave following the start of COVID-19.”
IntelyCare is a Boston-based health care staffing solutions platform. The management consulting company McKinsey and Company provided the data on workers considering leaving the workforce, in a time where providers desperately need workers to enter the field.
Those workers cited the heavy workload, the lack of sufficient staffing and the emotional toll the pandemic took on them as to why they were more likely to leave.
Health care jobs are leading other industries in “urgent” postings both because the demand for workers has increased and because many eligible workers are turning down the jobs due to multiple reasons related to the pandemic, Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel wrote.
Health care providers — as well as in home health — are also more likely to be including bonuses or incentives to get workers on board, according to the Indeed report.
The share of job postings on Indeed with hiring incentives is at 4.3%, up from 1.8% in July 2020, with much of that increase coming in recent months.
But Coppins believes in today’s landscape that may still fall short.
“Employers can’t rely on higher pay or one-time bonuses to retain workers,” he said. “Instead, they should listen to employees and provide them with meaningful benefits while paying them what they deserve.”
Of course, that is not always the provider’s choice. There are a lot of providers, for instance, in the Medicaid and Medicare business that aren’t able to offer workers more unless the reimbursement they receive is likewise increased.
Unemployment benefits likewise have not helped providers’ cause. While it’s understandable why many workers were or are unable to work given the pandemic’s effects, it’s made hiring even tougher.
“The thing I feel has changed the most is the lack of aides willing to work,” John Bradshaw, the CEO of Georgetown Home Care, recently told HHCN. “We never really had any trouble finding aides to take jobs prior to the pandemic, but it’s near impossible now, which is dramatically driving up the cost as we pay more to get aides to come back.”
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