4 Recruiting and Staffing Trends That Have Changed Since COVID 19

No one expected a worldwide pandemic to last this long. But despite these challenging circumstances, there are some changes that have taken place in healthcare recruiting during this time. Fortunately, most would say these new trends are for the better, pushing the healthcare industry to make positive changes for their employees and their patients. 

As someone responsible for hiring in healthcare, it’s important to understand the impact these trends have on your hiring efforts and what candidates are now expecting from their employers. If your healthcare system isn’t keeping up with the latest hiring developments, your job openings may be bypassed for another employer that is adjusting to the times.  

4 Trends in Healthcare Recruiting for 2022 

1. Emphasizing Diversity and Inclusivity in Hiring 

In recent years, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has been top of mind for recruiting teams across the country. It’s important to remember, though, that DEI is more than ethnic and racial diversity. It’s diversity and inclusion across all demographics: age, (dis)ability, socioeconomic status, and more. 

Remember, the more diverse your healthcare team, the better you’ll be able to identify with your patients. As a hiring manager, it’s important to continually ask: How can we continue to be a more inclusive workplace? Whose perspective are we missing from our team? 

2. Widening Education Benefits for Healthcare Professionals 

If you haven’t considered offering continuing education benefits to your employees, now’s the time. More and more employers are seeing the benefit of offering tuition reimbursement for career-relevant degrees and certifications and helping their staff keep up with professional licensures. helping their staff keep up with professional licensures.   

This is a long-haul approach. You’re investing in your employees in hopes they’ll stay as a permanent member of your team. As your employees grow professionally, it’s also important to offer opportunities for internal advancement. That way you can reap the rewards of this investment.   

3. Normalizing Mental Health Benefits  

Even before the pandemic, many companies were on their way to adding adequate mental health benefits for their employees. But now, these benefits are becoming standard. Frontline healthcare workers carried the weight of the pandemic for more than two years, which undoubtedly took a mental and physical toll on many. Healthcare workers are demanding (and deserve) more paid time off, mental health coverage, and ample family time.  

CoreMedical, for example, provides industry-leading benefits, including mental health services, to our candidates and their families starting day one of any travel nursing, travel therapy, or locum tenens assignment.  

4. Expanding Virtual Medical Practices 

Many healthcare systems pivoted to virtual appointments, where possible, in the wake of COVID-19. And this is a trend that will not be going away anytime soon. With some patients still apprehensive about visiting doctor’s offices for minor ailments, healthcare systems will continue to offer remote appointments.  

To keep up with this change, it’s important to incorporate more questions and assessments about technology proficiency when interviewing candidates. Furthermore, interviews are likely to continue to be virtual. Candidate interviews conducted via Zoom save time and resources and provide flexibility for both recruiters and applicants.  

And as technology advances, more and more medical assistance will be conducted remotely. So, if you haven’t invested in the tools to provide virtual offerings, it’s time to consider it.  

Is Your Team Prepared for Another Unexpected Event?  

All of these trends came about from adapting to unexpected times. While we all hope the pandemic is behind us, that’s not the only type of unexpected event that can occur.  

Is your team equipped in the event something else sudden and unexpected happens? Check out our Guide to the Unexpected in Healthcare to help your staff prepare for future unforeseen events.