Health care continues to see increases in hiring, federal data shows, and the nursing home industry is part of that slow upward trend.
Employers in health care overall saw 70,000 more jobs added in July, with nursing homes seeing an estimated 3,700 jump in new hires, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. When combining residential care facilities, the two added a combined 9,000-plus jobs.
While the nursing home employee count has ticked up modestly since the beginning of the year, the number is still nowhere close to what the industry saw 10 years ago – about 21% of the sector’s workforce has not returned.
In January 2012, nursing home staff count was approximately 1,666,800; that number plummeted to 1,346,600 in January 2022.
That data is perhaps not surprising to industry leaders who have seen firsthand a loss of nearly 229,000 caregivers, or more than 14% of the workforce since February 2020.
Nursing home staff numbers have fluctuated so far this year, landing at 1,361,100 in July. June and July statistics are still preliminary, according to the BLS.
Aging services associations are encouraged to see a strong month in job growth, but the long-term care industry still has a ways to go.
“Workforce levels are still far below February 2020 when the pandemic began,” the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) said in an emailed statement to Skilled Nursing News. “We need support from policymakers to ramp up rebuilding the long-term care workforce, so that seniors have access to the long-term care they need.”
A LeadingAge spokesperson said gains reflected in the BLS report are a step in the right direction, but labor force participation rates across all sectors is still too low.
“Older adults seeking support from the aging services sector are feeling the strain of the workforce crisis,” according to LeadingAge. In a summer poll conducted by the organization, about 93% of members said they still have a significant or severe staffing crisis.
One respondent from the poll said their organization “continues to barely tread water” as others have had more success in retaining and recruiting talent.
“Efforts to transform nursing homes must begin by addressing a staffing crisis that is leaving a growing number of older Americans and their families without much-needed care,” LeadingAge said in a statement.
A national prioritization of education and training, immigration and addressing price gouging by staffing agencies in the sector is still needed, according to LeadingAge. The organization outlines such efforts in its Aging Services Workforce Now advocacy campaign and policy asks.
On a wider scale, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%, according to the BLS report, bringing the number of unemployed persons to 5.7 million. Health care was among cited industries that contributed meaningfully to widespread job growth, along with leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 in July, a larger average than the prior four months combined at 388,000.
“Employment in health care overall is below its February 2020 level by 78,000, or 0.5%,” according to the BLS report.
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