Interest in healthcare vacancies has increased, but recruiters are having to invest more and refocus budgets to find the best talent amidst a skills crisis. That’s according to new data from online talent sourcing specialist, Talent.com.
Following a spike in demand and offers in February, the company reports that the Healthcare sector has seen a drop in the number of candidates actively clicking on adverts and is now down 49% from February to September, highlighting the increased shortage of workers in the field.
Data from the National Care Association further supports this dearth of talent, warning that there could be a severe staffing shortfall of 170,000 by the end of 2021.
As Noura Dadzie – VP Sales UK & International Markets at Talent.com – explains, while today’s healthcare sector needs investment to find the right candidates, where these budgets are channelled will be a key driver of success:
“At a time when staff shortages have reached a critical point across the UK, many hiring managers in the health and social care sector are pumping investment into recruitment activity in the hope that this will be enough to give them an edge over the competition. However, as the war for talent intensifies, it really is crucial that recruitment budgets are strategically directed if businesses are to benefit from any tangible return on this investment. When talent is so thin on the ground, only the most tactical approaches will assist in attracting the top candidates.”
“We are increasingly having conversations with healthcare hirers who are moving funds into sophisticated tech tools to help them look outside of the usual channels to find talent, which is perhaps the reason why financial spend has increased. The rise of job aggregators and programmatic platforms, for example, is one area that more businesses are budgeting additional finances for to streamline their hiring. For those that are facing an increase in recruitment budgets, looking at where else this investment can be channelled strategically rather than throwing more money at the same problem should certainly be a priority.”