Dive Brief:
- A recent study by Health eCareers shows that nearly 3 out of 4 healthcare workers would leave their jobs for jobs with higher salaries.
- And with healthcare job opportunities skyrocketing, it may not be too tough for employees to find positions with higher pay.
- Demand for healthcare workers is booming due to the aging population and the number of Americans that are newly insured under the Affordable Care Act.
Dive Insight:
Despite taking on more work and higher patient loads, 45% of more than 28,000 healthcare workers surveyed said they haven't been given a raise in the last year. Almost 60% said their pay was either the same or lower than it was the year before. And most of the employees that did report an increase in pay said they got it by changing employers.
More than 40% of survey respondents reported dissatisfaction with their current pay. Of those who said they were dissatisfied, the top reasons were lower than average salaries for similar jobs in their region, salaries that don't reflect their level of experience, not being compensated for extra hours worked and salary increases that are too infrequent or too low.
According to the survey report, healthcare is currently a job seeker’s market and healthcare workers are optimistic about their ability to find new jobs. Of those surveyed, 86% say they’re confident they could find a better job within the next year and 34% said they're planning to do so. In addition to higher pay, benefits that could entice employees to stay include flexible hours, vacation and other paid time off, training and certification courses and more interesting or challenging assignments.