Although the recession has been hard on many industries, the health care industry is one that has managed to thrive. Since the recession’s start, the health care industry has added 631,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and has consistently added headcount each month. CareerBuilder’s annual health care hiring forecast indicates that this hiring momentum will likely continue into 2010. The survey was conducted between November 5 and November 23, 2009, among more than 240 health care employers.

Hiring in 2010

• More than one in five (22 percent) health employers said they plan to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees this year, up from 17 percent last year.

• Ten percent of employers said they had plans to increase the number of part-time employees at their organizations in 2010, in order to help meet demand.

“While most industries struggled with headcount since the start of the recession, health care was and continues to be one of the strongest industries for hiring,” said Jason Ferrara, vice president of corporate marketing for CareerBuilder.

“Forty percent of health care employers, by far the highest among industries we surveyed, have open positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. This shows that there is high demand for qualified health care workers across a variety of areas; everything from medical assistants to records specialists to nurses.”

Five Health Care Recruitment Trends for 2010

1. Replacing Low-Performing Employees

Health care employers are taking advantage of the current labor pool’s large number of highly qualified candidates to strengthen their work force. Forty-three percent of health care employers say they plan to replace low-performing employees with higher performers in 2010.

What do health care employers really think of their employees’ performance? When asked to grade their current work force, 18 percent rated their employees an “A”, 68 percent a “B”, 13 percent a “C”, and less than one percent a “D” or “F. Whew.

2. More Flexibility

Flexible work options continue to be important to health care employers. Over a third (37 percent) of health care employers said they will provide more flexible work arrangements for employees in 2010, including:

• Alternative schedules (74%) — Employees can come into work early and leave early, or come in later and leave later
• Compressed work weeks (53%) Employees work the same hours, but consolidate work into fewer days
• Telecommuting (40%) — Employees work from home or from another remote location
• Job sharing (12%) — Employees share the same position in a company, each working part of the week
• Summer hours (12%) — Workers enjoy condensed hours during the summer; typically 1/2 days on Fridays

3. Recruitment Tools

As the demand for quality health care employees continues this year, health care employers will leverage a variety of recruitment tools to fill their open positions. But on what are they planning to spend more money, exactly?

• Online recruitment sites — (25%)

• Newspaper classifieds — (20%)

• Career fairs — (18%)

• Social and professional networking sites — (13%)

• Staffing firms and recruiters — (7%)

4. Freelance Workers

Because of the great demand for qualified workers, many health care employers are seeking out freelance or contract health care workers to supplement their needs.  In fact, 34 percent of health care employers are hiring contract or freelance workers in 2010.

5. Green Jobs

“Green jobs” are defined as jobs that contribute significantly to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Being “green” is a rapidly growing movement within the health care industry as companies seek ways to run more efficiently; 10 percent of health care employers plan to add “green” jobs in 2010.
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Although there are signs that the economy is beginning to heal, small businesses are still feeling aches and pains caused by the recession. About a third (34 percent) of small businesses — organizations with 500 employees or fewer — are unsure if they will have access to necessary credit in 2010, according to a new CareerBuilder survey conducted between Nov. 5 and Nov. 23, 2009, among more than 1,450 small businesses. In addition, 15 percent of small businesses said that an inability to access credit this year will prevent them from adding headcount.

A Look Back at 2009

Credit was more difficult to obtain in 2009, and small businesses tried, yet were at times unable, to meet the challenge. Seventeen percent of small businesses reported they were unable to access the credit needed to support their businesses in 2009, and of those companies, 26 percent were unable to add employees. On a positive note, however, of those companies who were able to access credit last year, 73 percent were able to hire new employees.

“While small businesses were hit hard during this recession, they will play a vital role as the economy bounces back,” said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America. “After past recessions, small businesses re-energized the economy by driving innovation and putting people back to work. The majority of small businesses we talked to say they are confident they will not lose their businesses in 2010, and many are hopeful that they will be able to add staff to support their bottom lines and remain competitive.”

Looking Ahead -- Cautiously

While small businesses are cautiously optimistic as they begin this new year, they are still preparing to face some hurdles. When asked what their organization’s top challenges would be for 2010, small businesses reported the following:

• Cost of health insurance — 42 percent
• Marketing expenses and costs to build awareness — 26 percent
• Attracting and hiring top talent — 22 percent
• Government regulations — 21 percent

What do you predict your business’s biggest challenges will be for 2010, and what is your strategy for attack?