Featuring SEEK’s Head of Healthcare, James Duncan

The last 18 months have placed an added burden on our healthcare workforce, and this has presented significant resourcing challenges as the industry was already at capacity before the pandemic.

According to SEEK, the pandemic has prompted a shift in employee priorities, providing an opportunity for attraction and retention strategies to be refreshed, appealing to today’s workforce. SEEK’s Head of Healthcare, James Duncan, speaks to renewed talent conditions.

The above chart shows the % of employees who noted these factors were more important now than what they were pre-COVID when looking for a job.

Source: Independent research conducted by Nature on behalf of SEEK. Interviewing 4,800 Australians annually (January 2021).

“According to SEEK research from earlier this year, job security has become very important for candidates; it’s now ranked by far the top attribute candidates look for in a role,” Duncan says. 

“Two years ago, this was sitting at around three or four in terms of priority. Across the board, this is one of the reasons we’re seeing a decline in applications for ads.

“Notably, salary and compensation has dropped out of the top four considerations for candidates when applying. This presents an opportunity for the industry, specifically aged care, considering a key concern in workforce strategies has been lower salary.”

The prioritisation of job security could also contribute to contract roles – which have traditionally been common – becoming less appealing to candidates, Duncan says.

SEEK offers advice to healthcare hirers in how to engage and retain staff in these conditions.

“It’s important for healthcare providers to call out job security in their attraction strategies, especially in roles with inter-industry mobility opportunities. 

“Above all, now is the time to focus on your organisation’s Employee Value Proposition. Considering these renewed candidate priorities, now is an opportune time to update your Employee Value Proposition to best position your organisation and available roles to candidates,” says Duncan.

SEEK emphasises that delivery on culture and workplace experience is equally important, to drive retention and employee sentiment.

“Increased industry demand means increased opportunities for those in the industry. Delivering on a positive culture and working environment should be central to an effective retention strategy,” Duncan reinforces.

Learn more by downloading SEEK’s Healthcare Pulse Report.

SEEK’s Healthcare Pulse Report is created exclusively for workforce, recruitment and people leaders in the healthcare industry. It offers a deeper look at trends shaping the healthcare labour market and forces that could impact recruitment strategies.