January 6, 2016 | Mike Pumphrey
A dwindling labor force, significant wage pressures and a sometimes grueling work environment overwhelmed by increasing resident acuity are reasons recruiting and retaining an effective staff in the senior living industry can seem next to impossible. Getting ahead of the curve early in 2016 and taking note of what’s ahead, however, could mean the difference between exponentially high turnover rates and satisfied, consistent employees. Consider these three workforce challenges affecting providers today, and develop a plan of attack to reduce their implications.
Talk of a senior living labor shortage has swirled throughout the industry in recent years, but it now appears that such fears are coming to fruition.
As the number of people requiring care rises, the pool of caregivers available to provide these much needed services is not keeping pace. In fact, a University of California-San Francisco study revealed that at least 2.5 million more workers will be needed by 2030 to provide long-term care to the aging U.S. population.
“I think before, it was a concern that there was this looming or coming workforce shortage, but I think people are really starting to feel the effects of it now,” OnShift CEO Mark Woodka says. “It’s being reflected in longer times to hire.”
Minimum wage has been a primary focus across the country as of late, with Los Angeles and San Francisco voting to boost starting pay to $15/hr. over the next few years, Chicago vowing to incrementally raise the city’s minimum wage to $13/hr. by 2019 and New York approving a $15/hr. minimum wage for fast-food workers.
Such action has prompted senior living providers to assess their own entry-level rates if they wish to remain competitive.
“One issue is that as the economy picks up, we compete more readily with other lower paid jobs, and it gets harder and harder to attract people into our business,” Juniper Communities Founder and CEO Lynne Katzmann says. “We really believe that people need to make enough money at a single job to be able to take care of themselves and their families. That’s why we believe higher minimum wages are a good thing, and we’ve made a commitment to raise our starting wages over the next several years. We’re actually in the process of implementing that at a number of our communities.”
The tasks that caregivers are required to perform are becoming more demanding, primarily due to rising resident acuity.
Owner and operator Juniper has implemented a partnership to address this acuity uptick, bringing on primary care providers to keep regular office hours at communities’ on-site clinics. And Chicago-based, top-10 owner and operator Senior Lifestyle Corporation has incorporated a resident monitoring system to more efficiently deploy employees.
“We’re certainly heading towards this being not just a residential environment anymore,” Woodka says. “It is an environment where care is being provided, and the skillset of the caregivers is going to have to improve. That’s good for our residents, but I also think it’s good from the career path perspective—being trained in something specific, like how to deal with dementia or how to administer some form of care.”
There’s no doubt that the senior living industry faces its fair share of workforce issues in the coming year.
An impending labor shortage will force providers to be more creative in how they attract new workers. Minimum wage spikes across the country will require that leaders think critically about how they reimburse and reward their staff. And residents’ need for enhanced services will mean a greater focus on broader, more streamlined care.
Leveraging best practices is how providers can address the crisis before it spirals out of control.
See for yourself why thousands of providers rely on OnShift’s innovative software for recruitment, hiring, workforce management, pay and engagement. Request your personalized demo today.
