For the first time in at least three years, wage growth is stabilizing across the core clinical roles in senior living, according to one expert.
According to labor market data from more than 500,000 vacant US healthcare jobs, wages for certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses actually are down quarter over quarter, whereas wages for unlicensed caregivers remained flat, according to LivingPath CEO and founder Jonathan Woodrow.
The Chicago-based senior housing data analytics company analyzed real-time wage data for 18 senior living positions that communities hire, to provide the industry with a window into what is happening in the job market for independent living, assisted living and memory care communities.
According to the data, CNA average wages were down 0.9% quarter over quarter and up 3.1% year over year. Unlicensed caregiver wages saw no change quarter over quarter but were up 3.1% year over year. LPN average wages were down 0.7% quarter over quarter but up 0.9% year over year. RN average wages were down 1% quarter over quarter but up 1.8% year over year.
Woodrow attributed the wage stabilization to a few factors, including communities moving away from using agency staffing and a cooling staffing market. Significant wage increases and bonuses used during the pandemic to attract staff members slowly have eroded. Calling the RN contract market “the tip of the spear,” Woodrow said those changes in compensation trickled downstream to LPNs, CNAs and unlicensed caregivers due to efforts by operators to staff buildings organically versus relying on staffing agencies.
In terms of industry risk, one of the biggest — if not the biggest — is the labor pool, Woodrow said. The data are telling senior living operators they don’t necessarily need to model the same level of wage increases that occurred over the past three to four years, he said.
“This should be a comfort,” Woodrow told McKnight’s Senior Living. “It’s pretty clear the broad hiring markets cooled, and wage growth certainly cooled.”
The data, he added, are in line with what others are seeing, but he said they should give the industry a level of confidence in what they’re seeing in their portfolios.
Compared with last year, vacancies in positions in senior living increased 5%, whereas across the rest of the US economy, vacancies have decreased 2.4%. The overall job market has cooled, but senior living is looking to fill an increasing number of roles. Overall job growth slowed sharply in July, and the unemployment rate increased to its highest level since 2021, the Labor Department reported, sending the Dow Jones into a tailspin on Friday.
