Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

An annual CareerBuilder.com forecast is predicting that because of the aging population, health care is one of the few industries positioned for staffing growth in 2009.

A survey found that one-in-five (17 percent) of large health care employers (50 or more employees) plan to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees in 2009, while 67 percent foresee either making no change in the number of employees or are unsure. Sixteen percent plan to decrease the number of employees.

Here are some health care recruitment trends that CareerBuilder forecasts for 2009:

1. More Flexibility – Flexible work options continue to be an important benefit for health care employers to provide in an effort to attract new candidates and to prevent employee burnout. More than two-in-five (41 percent) of health care employers will provide more flexible work arrangements for employees in 2009, including:

•Alternative schedules – come in early and leave early or come in later and leave later – 72 percent
•Compressed work weeks – work the same hours, but in fewer days – 52 percent
•Telecommuting – 41 percent
•Job sharing – 17 percent
•Summer hours – 8 percent

2. Recruitment Tools – As demand for qualified workers continues, health care employers will leverage a variety of recruitment tools to reduce the time-to-hire cycle and fill open positions. Health care employers plan to spend more money on the following recruitment tools in 2009:

•Online recruitment sites – 24 percent
•Newspaper classifieds – 22 percent
•Career fairs – 19 percent
•Staffing firms and recruiters – 14 percent
•Social networking sites – 8 percent

3. Retaining and Rehiring Retirees – Nearly one-third (32 percent) of health care employers are concerned about the loss of intellectual capital at their companies as a large number of baby boomers approach retirement age.

•Twenty-one percent of health care employers say that due to a shortage of qualified workers, they are either likely or very likely to rehire retirees from other organizations in 2009.
•Twelve percent are likely or very likely to provide incentives for workers at or approaching retirement age to stay on with the organization longer.

4. Freelance Workers – To help alleviate their employees’ demanding work load, health care employers are hiring contract and freelance workers to help get the job done.

•One-third (33 percent) of health care organizations plan to hire contract or freelance employees in the new year.
•Five percent of health care employers are hiring more contract or freelance workers in 2009 than they did in 2008.

5. Green Jobs – Being “green” is a burgeoning movement within the health care industry as companies seek ways to run more efficiently. Health care employers plan to be more environmentally aware in 2009, as 14 percent plan to add “green” jobs. Seven percent added them in 2008. “Green jobs” are positions that implement environmentally conscious design, policy and technology to improve the conservation and sustainability.

*Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2008 Employment Situation Summary, January 2009.

The survey was distributed to 329 large health care hiring managers and human resource professionals.

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