Nursing and residential care facilities lost 28,100 jobs last month, on top of 18,300 jobs lost in June. That’s according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Residential care settings have shed jobs for five straight months, for a total of 220,000 jobs lost, according to the bureau.
The healthcare industry overall, however, added 126,000 jobs in July, with the biggest employment growth seen in dentist and physician offices, hospitals and home healthcare services. Employment in healthcare is still down by 797,000 since February.
In terms of what lies ahead for health jobs, the nonprofit healthcare-focused organization Altarum says it seems reasonable to project slower job recovery in the health sector (and overall) in the near-term as a result of the surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the country.
According to a release Friday, the organization expects the ongoing pandemic to “put a damper on what had been a steady increase in healthcare utilization, especially for elective care.” Longer term, Altarum said it’s possible that the healthcare industry may learn to manage with less staff as revenue is reduced and use of technology increases.
