Studies indicate that overall healthcare employment fully rebounded from pandemic lows by 2024; office-based behavioral health surged by 84%
The U.S. healthcare workforce has rebounded from the significant job reductions of early 2020, with employment now aligning with pre-pandemic forecasts, as revealed by recent research from the University of Michigan.
Nonetheless, the recovery remains inconsistent, with some segments of healthcare flourishing while others continue to face acute staffing deficits.
For instance, while physicians’ offices have surpassed pre-pandemic employment growth rates since 2023, skilled nursing facilities and intensive behavioral health centers are still grappling with extensive staffing shortages that commenced during the pandemic.
This investigation, led by School of Public Health researcher Thuy Nguyen and elaborated in a research letter featured in JAMA, assessed staffing comparisons by examining employment data from 2016 to 2024 to evaluate the recovery of healthcare sectors from the pandemic’s effects.
One of the most notable discoveries pertains to mental health services. Office-based behavioral health specialists, such as therapists and counselors in private practices, experienced a staggering 84% increase in employment from 2019 to 2024. In contrast, intensive behavioral health facilities, which provide more thorough mental health and substance abuse treatment, have struggled to restore their workforce.
“The insights regarding behavioral health practitioners are crucial and may influence policy modifications in light of the growth of office-based practitioners amid an ongoing shortage in more intensive care environments that began during the pandemic,” commented Nguyen, U-M assistant professor of health management and policy.
The study highlights several factors that might clarify why certain healthcare environments experienced better recovery than others. Office-based practices may have been viewed as lower-risk venues for COVID-19 transmission and provided less stressful working conditions compared to hospitals and nursing homes. The surge in demand for office-based mental health services via traditional and telehealth avenues likely fueled the expansion of these services.
“For patients and families, these employment trends have tangible implications,” remarked study co-author Kosali Simon, the Herman B. Wells Endowed Professor in Health Economics at Indiana University. “The ongoing staffing issues in nursing homes and intensive mental health facilities may impact access to care and the quality of services in these essential healthcare environments.”
Healthcare employment fell by nearly 7% in the second quarter of 2020 due to pandemic-related closures. However, by 2024, healthcare positions had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, exceeding 24 million jobs as of last September. In contrast, nonhealthcare employment declined more dramatically—over 11%—and has recovered at a slower pace, remaining 3% below expected levels in 2024.
The research utilized data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and contrasted actual employment figures with what would have been anticipated had pre-pandemic trends continued uninterrupted.
This latest research regarding the pandemic and healthcare employment builds upon Nguyen’s prior work, which first identified nursing homes as among the most adversely affected by employment declines during the pandemic. Her earlier 2023 study revealed that long-term care facilities were still operating with staffing levels more than 10% below pre-pandemic numbers.
Co-authors include Christopher Whaley from Brown University School of Public Health and Jonathan Cantor from RAND.