Dive Brief:
- Glassdoor’s latest list of 100 Best Places to Work in 2018 includes 11 health sector companies, up from three in 2017. The list honors U.S. companies with 1,000 or more employees.
- List newcomer St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the only healthcare organization to make it into the top 10 workplaces, ranking No. 9 with a 4.5 out of 5 possible rating.
- Selectees are chosen based on their overall Glassdoor rating, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, work/life balance, recommendations to a friend and six-month business outlook. To be considered, companies must have at least 75 ratings with an overall rating of 3.5 or higher and at least 2.5 across workplace factor ratings.
Dive Insight:
In addition to St. Jude Children’s, the healthcare honorees include:
- New York Presbyterian Hospital (#32, 4.4)
- Smile Brands (#43, 4.4)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering (#45, 4.4)
- Texas Health Resources (#46, 4.4)
- Stryker (#76, 4.3)
- Aurora Health Care (#82, 4.3)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (#90, 4.3)
- Kaiser Permanente (#91, 4.3)
- Morrison Healthcare (#94, 4.3)
- BAYADA Home Health Care (#100, 4.2)
All of the healthcare organizations except Texas Health Resources, Massachusetts General and Kaiser are new to the list.
While the list highlights some of the best healthcare workplaces in the country, the overall picture is not so rosy. In recent months, a surprising number of hospitals and health systems have announced management shakeups and layoffs as they restructure to shore up financial positions. Among them are KentuckyOne Health, NYC Health + Hospitals, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Tenet Healthcare. Most recently, Scripps Health announced plans to cut CEO positions at each of its four hospitals and replace them two chief executives overseeing two hospitals each, plus a CEO for ancillary services.
Hospitals know they need to reduce operating costs and one way to do that is personnel changes. For example, merging systems may decide to streamline by sharing services or personnel, or systems may find it more economical to use third-party contractors than hire for in-positions, Ben Isgur, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute, told Healthcare Dive recently.
Overall, healthcare hiring continues to rise. An October report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the healthcare industry will add nearly 4 million jobs by 2026, or about a third of all new jobs. Healthcare support positions, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are expected to experience the fastest growth within the sector.
Research has shown that factors such as stress and burnout can lead to work-related errors and higher staff turnover. A recent analysis in Health Affairs found a direct link between clinicians’ job satisfaction and remediable job conditions. While nearly three-fourths of clinicians reported being happy with their job at baseline, only 16% were more satisfied one year later. Those that were, however, were three times more likely to report less burnout and eight times more likely to have plans of leaving their practices compared with clinicians whose satisfaction didn’t grow.
The online job-rating site also announced the 50 best small and medium businesses for worker growth and satisfaction. That list includes one heath sector company — automated prescription drug prior authorization software developer CoverMyMeds, which came in at No. 30 with a 4.8 rating.