When it comes to the outlook for employment in the healthcare sector, Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider argues that this chart, using data from the U.S. Department of Labor, says it all.
Healthcare employment (seasonally adjusted) keeps on going up, even during periods of recession when other sectors experienced job losses. And the percentage of the U.S. labor force working in healthcare grew fairly steadily from 7.1 percent in November 1990 to 10.1 percent in November 2011. It’s expected to reach 11.9 percent in 2018, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center Health Project report.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
New numbers from The Conference Board reveal that healthcare practitioners and technical workers posted the largest increases in online job postings in November, while overall labor demand for all industries dipped for the sixth consecutive month.
With an aging population, Weisenthal argues, the demand for healthcare services seems guaranteed to keep going up. And expanding supply is the way to get surging healthcare costs down, he says. But, won’t healthcare hiring eventually reach a peak?
Ron Shinkman argues that there are a few problems with the fastest-growing sector in the U.S. that could halt hiring at any time: declining quality of care coupled with increasing costs and, as a result, rapidly expanding technology that will continue changing the way we deliver healthcare.
It will be interesting to see which scenario plays out over the next year as mobile health platforms continue rolling out in huge numbers, more providers switch to electronic health records and President Obama’s $1 billion plan to bulk up the healthcare workforce takes effect.
