Last year, the outbreak of the pandemic posed a challenge to the healthcare sector unlike any witnessed before. This in turn had considerable impact on healthcare employment, with a surge in demand for qualified personnel across most aspects of healthcare.
Nursing and Healthcare Assistant roles accounted for a significant portion of that demand, a demand that has continued into 2021 and shows no signs of being quenched in the near future.
The reasons behind this demand are quite straightforward. Nurses and Healthcare Assistants are the direct frontline of this pandemic. The sense of duty and loyalty felt by many Nurses and Healthcare Assistants during this time of crisis has meant they did not wish to consider new roles during such a challenging period for healthcare, reducing the level of career movement from qualified personnel.
The staffing pressures were exacerbated by personnel having to step away from roles because they had either contracted the virus, were in the vulnerable category or had vulnerable family members at home. The challenging environments posed in healthcare settings over the last year have also had to be factored into rostering, adding to the supply need.
Employers require new personnel, but there has not been a sufficient number of skilled candidates available to satisfy that need. This is the key indication that it is currently a candidate’s market. Qualified candidates can pick and choose which job they would like. Overall, we anticipate a further 20% growth in the number of positions available for Nurses and Healthcare Assistants over the course of 2021.