The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a report this month, highlighting professional practice areas at the highest risk of workforce shortages over the next decade and discussing the role that federal policy can play in alleviating them. Unsurprisingly, the healthcare and social assistance workforce is at the top of this list with a projected 25.8 million job openings between 2023-2033.
Unfortunately, the study also found that it is the sector at greatest risk of not finding enough workers to meet this projected demand. The healthcare workforce makes up a significant portion of U.S. employment, making this sector a high-priority area for policy action.
Key findings from the report include:
- Healthcare Practitioners and technical and healthcare support occupational groups are set to see considerable growth in demand due to an increased emphasis on preventative care and a greater need for healthcare services from a rapidly aging population.
- Specific healthcare occupations at risk of workforce shortages include Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Medical and Health Services Managers, Personal Care and Home Health Aides, and health care-adjacent occupations such as Medical Equipment Repairers.
- Policies to support the international workforce will be vital to meeting the nation’s near-term labor needs.
To address these shortages, the report emphasizes improving education and training, expanding immigration, enhancing worker support, and leveraging automation through policy implementation to expand these workforces.
According to the report, policymakers can incentivize Americans to complete their education or training and promote re-enrollment by expanding Pell Grant eligibility and leveraging overlapping skill sets.
The retention and expansion of foreign-born workers in the healthcare space is also vital and accounts for 18% of the workforce as of now. Yet the immigration system has not prioritized this need. The cap on foreign-born visas for these jobs has not been updated since 1990 and is full of backlogs that cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.
For workers who show up every day to serve patients, enhancing support to avoid burnout and early retirement would also help with retention.
To read the full Bipartisan Policy Center report, CLICK HERE.