Healthcare Job Market Healthy

As job cuts mount and downsizing spreads, one of the few areas that have been spared is healthcare. Despite a loss of 2.6 million jobs from the overall economy last year, the healthcare sector managed to add 419,000 jobs in 2008. In addition, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook in healthcare looks strong right through 2016, as long-term projections are counterbalancing short-term recessionary pressures. Spurring the job growth in healthcare are factors like an aging baby-boomer population and prospects for sweeping healthcare reform from the Obama administration.

Among healthcare workers who have direct patient contact, nurses and home care aides led the jobs list. Close to 170,000 new RNs were added to the job rolls last year, along with almost 65,000 home care aides. Another 58,000 new jobs were added to office and administrative staffing such as medical records clerks. Job recruiters for the healthcare industry see continued demand for registered nurses, with another 587,000 added by 2016. Jobs for LPNs are also expected to grow by 14% over that period.

Jobs for physicians are also expected to grow by 14% over the next 7 years, adding 90,000 positions, with an emphasis on specialists such as geriatricians and family practitioners. The increased demand for healthcare staffers is also expected to translate into more jobs for support personnel such as medical assistants and pharmacy technicians.