Image credit: Emerald/HCD
Employee satisfaction and workforce retention in healthcare have been top of mind for a while now, but recent studies show an effort to better understand which employees are exiting their roles, and why.
These insights shed light on strategies that might help keep them from wanting to leave in the first place.
For example, Soliant Health’s 2024 Healthcare Employment Trends Report found that 1 in 5 Gen Z healthcare workers, or 22 percent, reported they plan to leave the industry within the next few years, compared with 5.4 percent of respondents aged 28-43, 2.5 percent aged 44-59, and 15.2 percent of workers aged 60 and older.
The healthcare staffing agency further reports that Gen Z’s main reason for leaving is an “unhealthy work environment and culture” (14.5 percent), illustrating an opportunity for healthcare organizations to prioritize staff well-being. Other generations’ primary concerns were high job stress and burnout.
Another study released last fall by global commercial real estate and investment management firm JLL, 2024 Employee Perspective on Healthcare Real Estate, paints a similar picture, with 24 percent of respondents reporting that they are considering leaving their healthcare positions in the next year.
Six percent of those leaving stated they were looking for a position outside the healthcare industry.
Other key findings from that study include that those who were not considering leaving their job said their workplace was designed to work efficiently, enabled them to care for patients well, and supported their well-being.
Those considering leaving were less likely to report a workplace that supported their productivity. Furthermore, JLL’s report noted the largest gaps in satisfaction were around sound privacy and maintenance of the workspace, including patient care spaces and employee break rooms and offices.
The healthcare design industry is well-versed in the importance of designing to support staff in clinical and back-of-house areas, but those strategies don’t always make it across the finish line as budget pressures and space constraints can impact the final project.
Yet, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives’ annual survey of issues confronting hospitals, both financial challenges and workforce challenges topped the list of responding CEOs’ concerns last year.
Studies like these are a reminder of what’s at stake and the importance of fighting for architectural and interior design solutions that prioritize staff productively and ensure employees feel valued and respected.
Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design and can be reached at [email protected].
