COVID-19 wreaks economic havoc, spurs health care hiring
COVID-19 wreaks economic havoc, spurs health care hiring
With all the economic carnage that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing, one thing it’s not leading to is trouble in the job market.
So far, there’s no evidence in the data that companies are laying off workers or holding back on hiring while business activity and consumer demand slack off.
The job sites ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor both report a spike in job openings related to the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
“There is a wide mix of skills needed [and] that is reflected in the income spectrum, as well,” said Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at Glassdoor, who added that the surge in demand includes some highly paid healthcare jobs.
“[From] epidemiologists or virologists to registered nurses, down to call center or front-desk workers who are helping handle the influx of community questions,” Zhao said, as well as foreign language speakers to get public health information out.
April Hansen at staffing agency Aya Healthcare said her firm’s recently had more calls to fill temporary job postings for physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
“Many health systems are setting up more mobile care units — tents in their parking lots to help triage the number of walk-in patients,” Hansen said.
Her firm is also providing emergency workers to clean and disinfect health care facilities.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
