Dive Brief:
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Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts will shutter a call center in Pueblo, Colorado in April as more clients rely on online services, The Pueblo Chieftain reported.
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Some opportunities may be available for qualified employees to relocate to other call centers and the company will offer job search assistance to affected workers.
- Express Scripts opened the call center in 2005 after an incentives package from local officials that would deliver more than $5.8 million to the company from sales taxes.
Dive Insight:
Job prospects are on the rise in healthcare, where the job market is expected to grow much faster than for other industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, as concerns that the trend toward automation will cause significant, the decision by Scripts demonstrates that healthcare is not immune.
Automation could cause almost one-half of current employees in the United States to lose their jobs within the next 20 years, according to a a University of Oxford study published in September 2013. Some of these could occur in healthcare. For instance, remote monitoring technology could negate the need for caregivers in some instances, as Brookings Institution white paper published in 2015 explained. Administrative positions are some of the most likely to be rendered obsolete by automation, which could conceivably affect healthcare employees in billing and record-keeping departments.
While technology is certain to drive employees from certain positions, there is still significant demand for others. However, healthcare organizations are often challenged when it comes to identifying well-qualified candidates with the right skills for certain positions, including entry-level roles. The disconnect between the needs of healthcare organizations and the skills jobseekers offer present opportunities for educational partnerships that groom future employees for the healthcare job market.