Hospitals, Health Systems Added 16.3K New Jobs in May 2022

Nearly all healthcare sectors saw employment increases in May 2022, including hospitals and health systems, which added 16,300 new jobs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite ongoing workforce shortages, the healthcare industry has seen positive employment changes during the past few months.

Overall healthcare employment grew by 28,300 jobs last month, going from 16,239,600 in April to 16,267,900 in May. This increase is lower than the 34,000 jobs the industry added in April.

Hospital and health system employment led the job growth, adding 16,300 positions to reach a total of 5,160,700 jobs. The employment boost in May is the largest increase hospitals have seen since December 2020, surpassing the 4,500 additional jobs the sector saw in April.

Hospital employment is still down almost 75,000 jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels, but it has grown in 17 of the past 26 months, indicating that the sector is experiencing slow but steady job recovery.

Ambulatory healthcare services also added jobs in May. The sector saw a growth of 6,400, going from 8,113,700 jobs to 8,120,100 jobs between April and May.

Physician offices saw the most significant growth within this sector, adding 5,800 jobs. Dentist offices added 900 jobs, outpatient care centers added 1,100 jobs, and medical diagnostic laboratories added 1,400 jobs.

Home healthcare services and other ambulatory healthcare services saw smaller employment growth, increasing by 700 and 400 jobs, respectively.

Meanwhile, health practitioner offices lost 3,900 jobs in May—one of the only healthcare areas to see losses instead of growth. This marks the first time since April 2020 that the sector saw a decrease in employment.

Ambulatory healthcare services have generally seen steady employment growth throughout the pandemic after plummeting in April 2020.

Nursing and residential care facilities, which have seen significant losses during the pandemic, added 5,600 new jobs last month and exceeded the 2,000 positions the industry added in April.

Nursing care facilities and residential mental health facilities added 1,300 and 1,400 new jobs, while employment at community care facilities for the elderly grew by 3,000. Other residential care facilities lost 200 jobs.

While overall healthcare employment increased in May, the industry is still down 223,000 jobs compared to February 2020, according to the report.

The United States gained a total of 390,000 jobs in May, with the unemployment rate remaining at 3.6 percent—similar to the 3.5 percent rate in February 2020.

Staffing shortages hit the healthcare industry particularly hard during the pandemic and organizations continue to face repercussions. As COVID-19 case counts remain high, hospitals and health systems are feeling the strain of being short-staffed.

Many healthcare workers have left or are considering leaving the field due to stressful environments, heavy workloads, and poor compensation.