The Health & Social Care industry is now the largest employment industry in Australia, with around 15.3% of Australians employed in their primary job in this industry.

The number of workers in the Health & Social Care industry has grown by 4.8% over the last year in Australia and has a projected increase of 301,000 (15.8%) employed workers by November 2026, with Registered Nurses being the most in demand role.

The demand for workers and on the health system is nothing new; it has been an ongoing concern for 20 years due to an ageing population, increase in chronic disease burden & complex care, changing patterns of healthcare, and new health technologies, with COVID-19 only highlighting the critical importance of health & social care services around the world further, with Australia as no exception.

This means a good recruitment strategy for Health and Social Care providers is vitally important to ensure you can build the healthcare workforce you need!

The Challenges

As well as the shortage of workers in Australia due to ongoing reasons above, there are other factors at play.

Rural healthcare worker shortage

Many healthcare workers are located in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, meaning there is a severe shortage of healthcare workers in rural locations and it is a challenge for healthcare providers in rural locations to recruit and retain qualified healthcare workers.

Competition for workers

The health & social care sector in Australia is highly competitive, with many healthcare organisations competing in a limited pool of qualified workers. There are over 23,000 health & medical jobs available on Seek (data pulled from Seek in May 2023). Therefore, organisations need to make sure they have their best foot forward when it comes to marketing their employer value proposition to prospective employees. In an already competitive job market, the way to stand out of the crowd as a healthcare provider is to make sure your employer brand is front of mind for candidates.

Lack of investment in education and training

The lack of investment in education and training is a significant issue in the healthcare sector in Australia, and it has contributed to a shortage of qualified and experienced healthcare workers. Many healthcare professionals in Australia enter the field without sufficient education and training, creating a gap in the quality of care provided to patients.

With the healthcare sector in Australia complex and constantly evolving, healthcare professionals require ongoing education and training to keep up with new advancements and changes in healthcare delivery. However, government and healthcare organisations are struggling to keep up with the education and training of healthcare professionals, particularly in rural and remote areas.

This makes it difficult to attract and retain qualified and experienced healthcare professionals, particularly in areas where demand for healthcare services is high. It has also resulted in a lack of consistency in the quality of care provided to patients, as many healthcare professionals may lack the necessary skills and knowledge to provide high-quality care.

Burnout and stress

In an already demanding job, due to the nature of the work and long hours, healthcare workers are experiencing more burnout and stress than ever before with the severe shortage of staff. This can lead to physical and mental health problems, as well as decreased job satisfaction, and increased turnover rates, making it challenging to recruit and retain workers.

What’s the solution?

With the healthcare shortage crisis now being front and centre stage, steps to alleviate the burden on the healthcare providers have been made such as the Australian government announcing a new Industry Labour Agreement to streamline the recruitment of qualified overseas direct care workers for the aged care sector. This is welcomed with open arms as healthcare organisations are now more easily able to cast their net further than Australian shores for qualified workers. There are also rural health workforce initiatives and programs in place to help with rural health & social care recruitment and programs to help with the aged care sector such as the Home Care Workforce Support Program.

How Recruitment Agencies can help with Health & Social Care Recruitment

An effective recruitment agency with good recruitment consultants who know their market can be a valuable partner for healthcare providers and organisations. Here are 3 ways in which a recruitment agency can help with recruitment.

1. They can attract a wide range of candidates, whilst saving you time

By leveraging their extensive networks & databases, posting ads across multiple platforms and employing strategic recruitment marketing techniques across channels such as LinkedIn, a good recruitment consultant can connect with a diverse range of candidates who possess the skills and passion needed in the healthcare sector and for a specific role. They take the time to understand the company, role and type of culture in a team and will deliver the right person. A good recruitment consultant is not only a good networker, but is a secret anthropologist, researching and taking time to understand many different types of people and how they could fit in with an organisation. This not only saves an organisation time and resources that can be better utilised in delivering care, but is also a great opportunity for an organisations brand to be marketed to a wide range of people.

2. A better employer and candidate experience

As well as an experienced recruitment consultant being able to provide invaluable support in attracting and retaining healthcare workers, they navigate the end-to-end recruitment process, from the screening, interviewing, references and offer stage, including the negotiation stage, ensuring that both parties understand what to expect in terms of remuneration and benefits. This expert guidance fosters smoother transitions and enhances the candidate experience, ultimately contributing to a better recruitment process.

3. They market your employer brand

Another added factor a recruitment agency can bring is growing an organisation’s employer brand through marketing a company’s employer value proposition (EVP). This is done through using recruitment marketing and through positively communicating your employer brand to their network.

A recruitment consultant’s marketing of your EVP doesn’t just end at the candidates they put forward for an interview but goes far and wide to the many candidates they screen, the many job adverts they post, the many emails, InMail’s, direct messages and SMS’s they write, and the many referrals they request from their network.

StreamTalent’s health and social care team recruits for roles such as registered nurses and social workers, and as well as finding suitable candidates, can help with marketing your employer brand, expanding the reach of your employer brand far and wide.

Speak to a consultant in the StreamTalent Health & Social Care team for help with recruitment and to discuss how we can help to grow your employer brand.