The staffing squeeze: Pay bumps aren’t enough

Rihan Javid, D.O., J.D. breaks down why “just raise pay” is rarely a complete staffing strategy, describing how practices get stuck in a salary arms race: one clinic bumps wages by a couple of dollars an hour, the practice down the street responds, and suddenly everyone is chasing the next $1–$2 increase.

That might keep someone for a few months, but it doesn’t fix the underlying churn — especially when $2 an hour means roughly $4,000 a year and staff can also leave for a shorter commute or better benefits.

Instead, he argues, leaders need to build a core workforce they can count on over 3–7 years. In a 10-person team, that means six or seven people who are truly long-term, with only one to three roles turning over. Once you’re losing the majority of your staff every year, the practice can’t sustain its workflows, let alone grow.