Taking a break from who is hiring and who was hired, we rounded up some reading on the state of the healthcare workforce. Like many things in our lives for the few years the pandemic has taken a toll on it, the healthcare workforce might be on the top of the list of disruption. With 18% of healthcare workers having left their jobs and another 12% being laid off, what are the solutions for healthcare as a whole? You can’t open a paper, magazine, or watch news and not hear about the crisis that has evolved. Here are some insights and reports.
In the News
Frontline workers report healthcare staffing strain amid shortage, leadership disconnect
Healthcare workers reported staffing-related care disruptions and high rates of burnout, as the industry faces an ongoing staffing shortage and a misalignment between hospital executives and frontline employees. Hospital staffing issues impacted the quality of care, with 85% of nurses, 75% of allied professionals and 72% of physicians reporting care disruptions, according to AMN Healthcare’s 2026 Workforce Outlook Survey.
McLaren Flint Invests in Future Healthcare Leaders Through Workforce Development Initiative
McLaren Flint has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the local healthcare workforce by providing sustained financial support to three promising nursing students through its Workforce Development Initiative. Having graduated from the Genesee Career Institute (GCI) in 2024, these students are now receiving ongoing direct support to help them earn their college nursing degrees by 2028. The hospital covers a large portion of the students’ tuition and assists with associated expenses, in exchange for an agreement to hire them after graduation. In turn, after earning their degrees, the students will live in Genesee County and fulfill a work commitment at the hospital equivalent to the tuition and assistance they received.
WHO flags growing health workforce gap as workers and patients age
The World Health Organization warned recently of a gap in the medical workforce around the world in the 2030s, with a quarter of doctors set to retire in the next decade. “In many countries both our populations and health workers are ageing at the same time. This can intensify the projected global shortage of 11.1 million health workers by 2030,” the WHO said in a statement accompanying a major report on workforce trends based on data from over 100 countries.
Harris Poll: 70% of Gen Z Healthcare Workers Look to Leave as U.S. Faces Critical Healthcare Workforce Shortage, Commissioned by Workforce Edge
One year after the initial survey, the 2026 Healthcare Workforce Barometer conducted by The Harris Poll finds that more than half of the healthcare workforce (59%) is still looking to leave with 70% of Gen Z healthcare workers saying they will look for a new role in the next year. These findings come as the U.S. is projected to face a shortage of nearly 500,000 critical healthcare workers by 2038 (HRSA, 2025).
Healthcare Partnership Expands Nursing Capacity by 77.5%
More students are enrolling in nursing programs at Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) and UNCW, thanks to a community partnership funded by The Endowment. Nursing enrollment capacity has increased by 77.5% since 2023, according to the New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership (HCP), representing a significant step toward addressing healthcare workforce shortages in New Hanover County and southeastern North Carolina.
To Read
Korn Ferry
Workforce 2026: Healthcare Industry Insights Revealed
Healthcare workers are among the most mission-driven across industries, and it’s easy to see why. Their work saves lives. But too many employers rely on that sense of purpose to absorb their workforce’s frustrations with inconsistent pay. Their structures leave career growth to chance and pile on workloads that allow little room for learning or innovation. Those are three critical gaps our Workforce 2026 survey uncovered, and they put your organization at risk of losing highly skilled employees. Here’s how each of these healthcare workforce trends affects your people and organizational goals—and what you can do next.
University of Minnesota
More than 1 in 10 US healthcare workers report ongoing long-COVID symptoms, study finds – By Laine Bergeson – More than one in 10 US healthcare personnel (HCP) reported persistent moderate or severe long-COVID symptoms at both three and six months after infection, according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. The study also found that older age, female sex, multiple underlying health conditions, and multiple COVID infections were associated with greater odds of persistent symptoms.
American Hospital Association
Chair File: Building Resilience and Ensuring the Well-being of Our Healthcare Workforce – By Marc Boom, MD – A career in healthcare is rewarding yet challenging. Through every day and every shift, healthcare professionals help patients and families navigate what could be one of the most difficult experiences in their lives. Performing lifesaving procedures and surgeries, cleaning and wrapping wounds, making diagnoses and creating treatment plans, listening to patients’ concerns and comforting families — these tasks and more are routine responsibilities for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Weill Cornell Medicine
How Will AI Impact the Future of the Clinical Workforce? – By Dr. Dhruv Khullar – Contrary to some predictions, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) agents could lead to more, not fewer, health care professionals working in the United States, according to a new article by a physician and health policy researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine who surveyed economic theory and the history of technology in health care.
MLive
As Michigan heads toward a healthcare shortage, some jobs look healthier than others – By Justin P. Hicks – Healthcare jobs are largely projected to face a workforce shortage over the next decade. High education costs, growing turnover rates and an aging population are among the factors expected to contribute to the caregiver shortage, according to the 2026 Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index. The non-profit Michigan Health Council published its latest projections this month. It marked the fourth such annual report, developed to help stakeholders identify where workforce pressure is highest and coordinate investments in recruitment, retention, education, policy and career pathways.