2023 outlook and beyond.
Employers within these industries are encountering significant challenges when it comes to attracting and securing highly skilled candidates. This pressing issue has highlighted the urgent need to reassess existing recruitment strategies, placing emphasis on the prioritising of ‘human skills’.
In a recent study by Brook Street Social Care, the UK's specialist social care company, it was revealed that 83% of organisations are grappling with the task of finding skilled candidates to meet the escalating demand for essential services. Despite the inrush of international hires through the new Health and Care Worker visa, the talent shortage within the sector remains high, indicating a significant gap in talent supply.
This scarcity is more polarised by a high employee turnover rate and the fact that the sector needs to scale by an incredible 52% by 2035 to meet demand. Emphasised human skillsets like resilience, critical thinking and problem-solving have the potential to not only make the sector a more enticing place to work but also enhance the quality of care delivery.
In light of the prevailing workforce challenges in the sector, Brook Street Social Care has curated a new report delving into what we consider to be the top five key trends, and offering employers invaluable insights to effectively address pressing questions and navigate the intricacies of talent acquisition and management.
Digital transformation innovation and adoption is accelerating within the Healthcare, Social Care and Life Sciences industries, highlighting the demand for more effective and efficient structures in the workforce. With an increase in investments in digital transformation, a growing consensus on the potential of AI, and the advancement of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), we are heading towards a more positive workforce with employees having a deeper sense of job satisfaction. For example, by implementing RPA and AI, employees can focus on the tasks that people are best at (thinking, deciding, producing and creating). This improves staff resilience meaning there is more time to do transformational work and adopt new ways of working, leading to reduced attrition across organisations.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a remarkable surge in the growth of new forms of digital patient care.
Faced with limited physical interaction, social care providers were compelled to seek alternative means to deliver high-quality care. This was evident in the substantial increase in telehealth usage by 78 times at the peak of the pandemic.
The NHS have also made plans to put a stronger focus on telehealth, with £2 billion being allocated to helping to digitise the sector through the rollout of electronic patient records. However, this growth of digitisation means that there will need to be a great deal of emphasis on upskilling and reskilling the current workforce, an increased need for skilled talent to continue improving the telemedicine solutions that came from the pandemic, and there will also be a growing need for talent in IT.
According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Q2 2023, 78% of employers in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industries say they are having difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of skilled talent. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on social care workers, highlighting the significant pressures they are confronted with.
The care workforce faces challenges such as limited career progression opportunities and the growing issue of burnout, which is even leading to individuals leaving the profession. Notably the vacancy rate has already witnessed a significant 52% increase in the 2021/22 period, and this rate is expected to keep increasing to meet the demands of the companies.As a result, there is a pressing need to prioritise ‘human skills’, focusing on reskilling and upskilling new talent. A strong Employer Value Proposition (EVP) as well as strategic workforce planning is needed to improve and optimise both attraction and retention.
As many highly profitable patents expire, an increasing number of pharmaceutical industry leaders are opting for strategic mergers and acquisitions to drive innovation. This approach has yielded significant benefits for institutions. For example, the agreement involving five manufacturers, including the manufacturer of the originator medicine, AbbVie, ensures that hospitals will only need to pay a quarter of the more than £400m they spend annually on adalimumab. In addition, the UK is also providing £277m in funding to support four life sciences companies to boost manufacturing.
However, to maintain focus on innovation, organisations must prioritise the recruitment and retention of highly skilled talent. By doing so, they can continue driving advancements in the field of pharmaceuticals.
Consumer behaviour is undergoing significant changes, with a growing emphasis on speed, convenience, transparency, engagement and digital experience, and the same is expected from their healthcare experience. The 2021 Accenture Health and Life Sciences Experience Survey revealed that 39% of consumers say they are willing to use digital care, while 76% say that a positive health experience must have two things: communication and efficiency. This highlights the importance of keeping frontline workers up to speed with the digital patient tools so that they can effectively deliver care. In addition, there is an increasing expectation for healthcare organisations to address Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues such as sustainability and health equity. The NHS has already made considerable progress in reducing their Carbon Footprint and have committed to reach a target of 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035.
With valuable lessons learned from recent years and a global pandemic, Healthcare, Social Care and Life Sciences employers are simultaneously navigating dramatic changes to their businesses and the world of work. Advances in automation and continued digital transformation have the power to significantly improve outcomes for patients, but the industry must first overcome persistent talent scarcity to ensure they have the human capital needed to successfully lead future innovation.
