CHANGING THE WORKFORCE NARRATIVE
The workforce shortage in long-term care is the top problem in our sector today. There simply aren’t enough workers to fill the current needs. And we will need an additional 7.9 million jobs between now and 2030 to fill the gap that will be created by the growing aging population. Where will the employees come from? The good news is that research by LeadingAge’s Opening Doors to Aging Services found that there are 13.5 million people who currently do not work in long-term care but would consider moving into the field. That’s well over the number of people needed. But now we face the challenge of how to entice them into long-term care, and then how to retain them.
LeadingAge Opening Doors to Aging Services
Opening Doors has been researching how to change the narrative around aging services. This includes helping families and residents understand services, drawing in new staff, and influencing public perceptions.
To recruit new people with different perspectives on long-term care we need to engage outside of our sector. We can do this by focusing on job attributes that people want: good wages, stability, flexible hours, and paid time off. Communities also offer a wide variety of jobs besides direct care, such as food service, information technology, administration, and lifestyle roles. Recruiting staff from sectors that offer these types of roles is one way to find employees who we may not have considered in the past.
Opening Doors found that “feel-good” benefits also rank highly with job seekers. These are things like the opportunity to do meaningful and caring work, build relationships, and have a path to advancement. Working in a field that values dignity and inclusion sets the long-term care sector apart from other sectors, such as transportation, warehousing, or commercial.
If you’d like to see the specific messages to use for recruitment, be sure to check out the Opening Doors Toolkit for more information.
OUR NEXT TRAINING COHORT CAN HELP YOU REDUCE COSTS AND INCREASE STAFF MORALE.
Why should you join our Winter ‘23 cohort and do LiveWell?
In addition to complying with quality assurance standards, LiveWell helps retain staff and build community. Care communities that do LiveWell have a 60% decrease in staff turnover. LiveWell also improves the quality of life for staff and residents. Residents have fewer falls and fewer medication errors, while staff experiences fewer workplace injuries.
LiveWell communities also reduce their costs: Reduced falls and increased staff retention help communities save an average of $135,900 annually.
Thankful to be working towards quality and dignity for all,
— Barbara, Steve, Andy, Marcus, Cecilia, Valerie, and Judy