Turnover in Health Care Facility Jobs Slowing Down

While the turnover experienced in health care jobs, including environmental services (EVS), has slowed from its peak at the beginning of the pandemic, recovery is still slow, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum.

Turnover rates for workers in long-term care centers, as well as minorities, women, and those with children, were slower to recover, with many of these employees leaving the industry for higher paying, less stressful jobs elsewhere.

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, compared health care worker turnover rates between April to December 2020 and January to October 2021, using records from the U.S. Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They looked at records on 125,717 health care workers.

When hospitals postponed elective surgeries and clinics closed during the first peak of the pandemic, about 1.5 million health care workers lost their jobs. Most jobs returned by fall 2020. But by the next year, the health care employment rate was still 2.7% below pre-pandemic levels.

The investigators found turnover rates varied by demographics. The rates among Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and Pacific Islanders were higher than among other races. Black and Latino workers experienced the slowest job recovery rates in the second period from January to October 2021.

They researchers also discovered turnover varied by positions, with aides, assistants, and other lower-paid employers more likely to leave their jobs throughout the pandemic.

Although the researchers were unable to specifically address why these people were quitting, they offered some ideas. Janette Dill, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and one of the study authors, surmised that low wages were part of the problem, pointing to the high turnover rates in long-term care.

Dill also said perceived risk may have been a factor, with minority aides and assistants who had less access to personal protective equipment (PPE), more likely to leave their jobs for fear of catching COVID-19. These communities already had a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases.

Burnout and a lack of child care may also be to blame, especially among female employees

The study concluded that tracking health care facility job turnover rates is critical to determining where the industry should focus its worker retention efforts. “Waiting too long to understand these issues may further elongate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the study authors wrote.