It’s that time of year when the inevitable “2025 healthcare staffing predictions” begin to roll out. Luckily, this year we have good news to share – so let’s get into it!
But first let’s look back at what happened in 2024. Here’s what we learned this year… and where we think next year will go.
2024 Healthcare Staffing Observations
Both healthcare and staffing are changing in response to greater dependence on technology and changes in workforce demographics. While hospitals and health systems have always sought out the best talent, who in turn had to adjust to changing work environments, the last 5 years rolled out bigger changes thanks to the pandemic, its aftereffects, and the rise of AI and workforce software. Here’s how we saw this play out this year.
Hospitals have contractor fatigue.
Scheduling continued to be a source of concern and even anxiety for some hospitals, who want staffing solutions that can guarantee consistent, quality coverage in advance. “If it’s late November and I don’t know who’s covering Christmas, that’s an issue” as one person put it. Typically these hospitals have relied on locums and contractors to fill the gaps but most leaders are looking for long-term strategies that move beyond solving their staffing shortages with contractors.
There was a slight dip in locums opportunities, but the nursing outlook is still strong.
Some nurses reported to us a smaller pool of jobs and changing bill rates, but the industry’s nursing shortage continues. In fact, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) forecasts a deficit of 78,610 full-time RNs in 2025 and 63,720 in 2030.
Elder care is becoming an increasingly active market.
We heard this again and again at conferences – the urgent need for elder care in Native communities. It’s a rising issue everywhere, actually, as Americans live longer and “old age” spans decades. By 2030, 1 out of 5 Americas will be age 65 or older. From skilled nursing facilities to chronic condition treatment to long-term services and support (LTSS), healthcare workers skilled in treating this population are already in demand.
Technology is deeply embedded into staffing and healthcare operations.
The phrase “data-driven decision” may be a cliché at this point, but only because its value is so vast. Staffing and talent acquisition technology is being used to offer a better candidate experience, while recruitment analytics can evaluate sourcing strategies and candidate selection. AI tools are used for remote interviewing, credential verification, and compliance with labor laws and compliance regulations.
2025 Healthcare Staffing Forecast
Onto what you really want to know! Where are we headed?
- The healthcare staffing market in 2025 is expected to grow, with a projected increase in revenue of around 6%. According to Staffing Industry Analysts, locum tenens will see increased volume and pay rates for certain specialties, such as internists and certified RN anesthetists. The locums tenens physician market is expected to reach $9.4 billion in 2025.
- Long-term workforce planning will be more of a priority. To avoid the aforementioned contractor dependence, leaders are already investing in contingency planning and analyzing future talent requirements, with emphasis on hiring long-term staff. This doesn’t mean an end to working with staffing companies, but rather, developing true partnerships. It also means…
- Hospitals will focus more on training and upskilling. Instead of simply looking for someone new with the right skill sets, health systems will focus on identifying skill gaps and emerging needs, then training their current workforce. This could include upskilling employees on new technologies, routing staff onto leadership pathways, and paying for team members to go into new specialties.
- They’ll also focus on staff well-being. With an eye on improving talent attraction and retention, hospital and staffing leaders are taking staff burnout, grievances, and requests seriously to improve workplace culture. It’s also about patient outcomes; a 25 percent increase in nurse job satisfaction over a two-year span is correlated with improvement in the quality of patient care.
- Clinically led staffing firms are the partner of choice. This sentiment is increasingly becoming louder – the insistence on working with staffing firms led by actual clinicians. The pattern of yesteryear, in which hospitals dropped in nurses and providers from different agencies, often failed because those agencies were led by financial and human resources leaders with no clinical background. By working with provider-led firms, hospitals know they can count on smarter decision making and relevant insights that help them improve operations and outcomes.
- AI adoption will increase – so staffing teams can work smarter, not harder. As AI capabilities grow more sophisticated, we’ll see more teams benefit. Instead of a laborious manual screening and evaluation process, teams can use AI to quickly reformat resumes, create insightful candidate profiles, and tailor interview questions to positions. Blockchain tools can expedite credentialing processes – shortening the time from screening to hire while ensuring teams hire only carefully vetted candidates. After the hire, detailed data sets can help assess candidate performance and reflect on the accuracy of hiring decisions.
What changes are your team or facility making in 2025? Where do you see the industry going?
