I talk with people in this industry often who are appalled at not just how overworked elder care employees are, but how under-qualified many of them are for the duties they need to perform. Here's a story that reflects how much more critical this issue gets each year.
The caregiver shortage across the in-home care industry is no secret, but a new report sheds light on the depth of the skills gap of available workers.
The U.S. labor market is as tight as ever since the Great Recession, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation by Burning Glass Technologies. With a national unemployment rate of just 4.1% in December 2017, workers have choices in their employment, particularly for jobs in high demand.
Across the all occupations studied, there were 5% more job openings than workers in 2016, but health care positions stood out with the highest demand. Personal care aide supply appeared to be meeting the workforce demand, however, with a 1:1 ratio of demand to supply, according to the report. However, there was a surplus of job openings in the health care support category, which includes home health aides.
Employers in home-based care frequently cite finding qualified workers as one of their top challenges. This gets specifically at the concept of a skills gap-not only are there not enough workers to fill available positions health care generally, there are not enough workers with the specific skills needed for particular positions. This can manifest itself as workers not having enough training or education for high-end positions, or not being willing to take on low- and middle-skill occupations.
(Home Health Care News)