Randstad Survey: Confidence Among Healthcare Workers Renewed

According to the fourth quarter findings from the Randstad Healthcare Employee Confidence Index, healthcare workers are more confident in nearly every area surveyed, including strength of the economy and availability of jobs. The survey of 299 physicians, healthcare administrators and other healthcare professionals also showed that American healthcare workers are much more likely to look for a new job compared to the third quarter of 2012.

The online survey—conducted in October through December 2012 by Harris Interactive—showed that overall employee confidence rose by 4.1 points to 57.5 in the fourth quarter.

“Given the latest findings of our Healthcare Employee Confidence Index, it appears much of the anxiety around the fiscal cliff concerns have all but dissipated as we enter 2013,” said Steve McMahan, executive vice president of Randstad US, Professionals. “The healthcare employment market has exhibited strong growth in the past months, adding 23,000 jobs in January and rising 320,000 over the year. The long-term outlook for the industry is equally as promising.”

Physicians in urgent care, ones who have anti-aging specializations and registered nurses  are in high demand, McMahan added.

Some key findings included:

• 22 percent of healthcare workers believe there are more jobs available while 45 percent believe there are fewer job opportunities available.

• Nearly one-third (31 percent) of healthcare workers reported likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months while 58 percent feel they could find a job in the next year.

• More than half (62 percent) of healthcare workers feel confident in the future of their company.

• 29 percent of healthcare workers said the economy is getting stronger this quarter, a nine-point increase from Q3 2012, while 42 percent of healthcare workers believe the economy is weakening, a three-point drop from last quarter.