The recent healthcare staffing summit in Las Vegas provides interesting insight into the unique world of tempory labor in the healthcare sector. Co-incidentally, the day after the summit ended, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a “Re-do” of the numbers released on unemployment. Not surprisingly, the second set of numbers significantly increased the unemployment figures and were more consistent with economic expectations.
A relatively small segment of the staffing industry, the healthcare space has a few differences that set it apart from other staffing areas such as technology, finance, light industrial and the like. As I write this, there are thousands of hospitals around the country with thousands of employees caring for the sick and injured. This fact will not be abetted due to a sudden rise in interest rates, the shutting down of a local plant, or massive layoffs of local industry. The reality of healthcare is that it has become a necessary part of our existence and the delivery of it has become as much a part of our expectations as freedom of religion. The industrial revolution began the drive for employee benefits, and the “great society” brought the Fedral government into the picture.
Certain economic drivers will always have somewhat of an impact on the nation-wide hospital census, but at the end of the day, there will always be significant need for temporary labor in healthcare. This need may soften in the long term, but the next ten years will see significant demand.
