Why is Healthcare Recruitment So Difficult

Successful and efficient healthcare is one of the fundamental pillars contributing to creating a society that functions well. Without it, we’d see a complete collapse of the well-being and prosperity of all its members.

So, having said this, why is it so difficult for medical recruiters to recruit adequately? The significance healthcare workers play in society’s functioning can’t be emphasized enough, yet demand for quality services drastically outweighs supply.

Whether it’s pay-related apprehensions, challenging barriers to entry, or geographical imbalances, many workers, even those who would love to have a career within the industry, have reasons preventing them from entering healthcare. Let’s discuss a few.

Shortage of Skilled Professionals

Many vacant job positions across the broader employment market are filled by employees who perhaps didn’t set out to work in that specific role. Still, their skill set and experience are enough to see them perform comfortably in the role, nonetheless. This isn’t quite the same with healthcare.

Earning jobs in specialized fields such as nursing, allied health professionals, and physicians requires rigorous educational studies, with over five years at University necessary for many roles. It is sometimes challenging to persuade talented young students to willingly sign up for such demining academic endeavours when seemingly easier alternatives are available.

With an aging population, there is a greater need and demand for quality healthcare workers, but recruiters face challenges due to the lack of skilled workers available within the industry.

Competition for Workers

Having already established that the pool of potential healthcare workers is relatively slim compared to other professional fields, it results in fierce competition amongst research institutions, hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare organizations for the greatest talent.

Due to globalization, the healthcare worker market is increasingly global, meaning organizations face competition from not only local institutions but also those worldwide.

If the infrastructure, laws, and payment of a healthcare role don’t suit the specific needs of a local worker, they’re now free to opt for working abroad in search of more rewarding working conditions.

This means that countries with stronger economies and facilitate better working conditions for workers can attract most of the top talent. In contrast, other countries must fight the competitive market amongst each other.

Greater Awareness Around Burnout

In a society that is becoming increasingly aware that working long hours, staying in high-pressure jobs, and enduring stress can have negative implications on an individual’s mental health and vulnerability to anxiety and burnout, it is difficult to make the industry seem as appealing as it once did to potential employees.

Furthermore, other jobs in the broader market now offer more flexible attitudes towards work-life balances, greater opportunities for hybrid or remote working, or even the potential to work for oneself. This isn’t possible for the vast majority of healthcare roles; thus, organizations are facing a greater fight to attract the brightest young minds into the industry.

Conclusion

These are just some of a plethora of reasons that cause recruiters difficulty when searching for new workers within the healthcare industry. It will be interesting to see how the working patterns evolve in the next few years to adapt to evolving societal norms.