Healthcare recruiting requires talent teams to navigate a complex landscape of regulations, competition, and diverse candidate pools while ensuring a positive candidate experience and meeting the evolving needs of healthcare organizations.

The state of healthcare recruiting 

Healthcare occupations will lead all other industries with the fastest job growth — adding the most significant number of new jobs, equating to 1.8 million job openings annually from 2022 to 2032.

The increase in job openings is due to employment growth and the need to permanently replace workers who leave their occupations.

Top healthcare hiring trends: 

• Employment in the individual and family services industry is projected to increase the fastest, with an annual growth rate of 3.3%.
  
• Healthcare support occupations are projected to have the fastest employment growth among all occupational groups.
  
• The fastest-growing occupations include nurse practitioners, physical therapy assistants, and physician assistants. 
  

Healthcare recruiting challenges

Healthcare occupations will grow 16%, a considerable increase above the average for all occupations. Specifically, the need for nurse practitioners, physical therapy assistants, and physician assistants is only expected to grow, yet 47% of healthcare workers plan to leave their positions by 2025.

What's driving healthcare recruiting turnover? 

Healthcare work is not easy, especially today. Among the commonly cited reasons for the departure of healthcare workers include:

• Burnout 
  
• New opportunities
  
• Feeling undervalued
  
• Being underpaid 
  

As the need for healthcare workers grows exponentially, ready and willing talent is not keeping up with demand. Adding to the challenges, skillset requirements are changing with the evolution of total health trends and telemedicine. It’s a lot to keep up with for healthcare professionals and a huge undertaking for healthcare recruiting teams. 

Equipping your talent acquisition team

Given the number of open roles, record-breaking resignations, and the need for healthcare expertise on the rise, healthcare recruiters and sourcers need to be always on — and always hiring with a stellar candidate experience.

Healthcare recruiting can be complex for talent teams due to several factors:

• Lack of technology: Healthcare recruiting involves managing large volumes of candidate data, including resumes, credentials, background checks, and other information. Talent teams need efficient systems and processes to manage this data effectively.
  
• Complex roles: Healthcare encompasses many roles and settings, including hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, research institutions, and more. Each setting may have its own unique recruitment challenges and requirements.
  
• Diverse needs require diverse providers: Promoting diversity and inclusion in healthcare recruiting is essential for providing culturally competent care and addressing healthcare disparities. Talent teams must actively work to attract candidates from diverse backgrounds and ensure that their recruitment practices are inclusive.
  
• Candidate experience: Candidate experience is crucial in healthcare recruiting, as candidates often have multiple job offers and options to choose from. Talent teams must provide candidates with a positive and seamless experience to attract and retain top talent.
  
• Talent competition: Healthcare organizations compete for top talent in a tight labor market. Highly skilled healthcare professionals are in high demand, leading to fierce competition among employers to attract and retain talent.
  

Meet healthcare professionals where they are 

Today's healthcare workers seeking new jobs desire better pay, staffing support, and an employer who prioritizes work-life balance while meeting their individual needs with employment guidelines. To attract this coveted talent, it's crucial to integrate these expectations into your employer brand messaging. This means crafting a brand story that resonates across all channels and touchpoints, effectively drawing candidates to your organization in a memorable way.

To achieve this, ensure that your pay and benefits are competitive and that employment requirements are transparently communicated. Highlight your commitment to employee well-being, showing how you support your staff now and in the future. You can attract and retain top healthcare talent by meeting candidates where they are and addressing their needs comprehensively.

Your guide to healthcare recruitment

Download our Healthcare Recruitment Guide to address these hiring challenges and evolving needs with recruitment marketing tactics for each stage of the candidate journey.