Although overall employment growth slowed this past month, healthcare jobs continue to grow faster than other industries, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
Healthcare added 19,000 jobs in April--of which, hospitals saw 4,100 more jobs, according to BLS data. Jobs in ambulatory healthcare services, including home health, physician offices and outpatient care centers, rose by 15,400 jobs. However, nursing and residential care facility jobs dropped by 500 positions.
"As we try to grapple with healthcare costs and try to get them under control, I suspect that will take its toll in one of two ways: either in terms of [slowing growth of] the average salaries in healthcare or in employment growth. I suspect in employment growth," Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for economic research company IHS, told Kaiser Health News. He continued, "It may not happen in the next couple of years."
In another study, research association The Conference Board found that organizations across industries are pressed to find seasoned strategic planning leaders. It's crucial they come up with strategies to realign workforce needs to match strategic workforce planning (SWP), especially with the growing importance of "big data," that is, volumes of data, according to a Conference Board statement.
"The shortage of experienced SWP leaders is an issue for businesses looking to deploy a three-to-five year SWP process," Mary B. Young, principal researcher of human capital at The Conference Board, said.
For more information:
- see the BLS announcement
- here's the BLS data
- see the Conference Board announcement
- check out the Conference Board study
- read the Kaiser Health News article
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