The headlines are all around us:  inflation is rising at the highest rate in 17 years, the stock market is losing value on inflation fears, consumers are spending less causing the economy to slow down, deep trouble in the real estate finance markets is placing a drag on broader financial markets.  What does that have to do with healthcare recruiting?

Right now we are seeing among our clients in Southern California the lowest number of active searches in more than two years.  Our market started to slow down in November last year and it has not picked up as I thought it would after the first of the year.  And it is not just our local clients; the California Association of Healthcare Facilities job posting board has an uncharacteristically low number of job postings, and many of those are either for out-of-state positions or else for government jobs.

Why is this occurring?  I believe that candidates are hunkering down in their current jobs and are nowhere near as interested in considering making a change.  They seem more willing to accept the status quo as opposed to exposing themselves to any risk.  And when people don?t move there is no need to fill in behind them.  A slow economy is a good thing for senior care operators since it allows them to manage a more stable internal labor pool that is less subject to turnover, but it is not as good for senior care recruiters.

What can we do?  Well, it is more important than ever that we as recruiters do an exemplary job of explaining our clients? unique value propositions and truly understand what a candidate seeks in order to provide and display value.  Clients, too, will need to make sure that they are as competitive as they need to be to attract talent for key positions.  Plus, we have to make sure that we do not have all our eggs in one basket.  If there are other regions of the country that are active than where we?ve focused our efforts then we need to be working there.  If there are other market segments that hold promise we need to be there as well. 

I believe we are seeing a shift in the market that may last for a while, and it will require of us a higher level of skill and professionalism.  We will need to be more diverse in an interdisciplinary way and more effective at our jobs, since in this market there are no easy searches.