The Indeed Hiring Lab tracks Healthcare employment trends, analyzing the latest Indeed and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. We look at overall labor market trends and dive deeper into job-posting trends in various Healthcare occupational categories. Finally, we dive into recent trends relating to employers’ advertisement of salary in job postings. 

Takeaways 

  • Employer demand for workers overall continues to decline, with job postings down 14.8% from mid-January, 2023. 
  • Physicians & Surgeons and Therapy job postings have notched gains, while most other healthcare categories have experienced modest declines.  
  • Wage growth is still slowing, with Nursing and Personal Care & Home Health easing the most in the past six months.

Indeed job postings 

While employer demand for workers overall is still elevated compared to pre-pandemic norms, the market has cooled definitively over the past year. The Indeed Job Postings Index (JPI) stood at 124 on Jan. 12, meaning total postings were still 24% above their level from Feb. 1, 2020. Postings were down 14.8% year-over-year, though the pace of the annual decline slowed notably in the second half of 2023. The JPI fell by 20 index points in the first six months of the year (from 148 to 128) but by only 4 points in the second half of the year.

Line graph showing the increase of Indeed job postings from their pre-pandemic baseline. US job postings have fallen 14.8% since January 12, 2023.
Line graph showing the increase of Indeed job postings from their pre-pandemic baseline. US job postings have fallen 14.8% since January 12, 2023.

Healthcare job postings 

Job postings are declining in most categories in the Healthcare vertical, with a few exceptions. Physician & Surgeon job postings lost a bit of steam in the last quarter of 2023, but remained up 4.1% year-over-year as of Jan. 12. Nursing and Personal Care & Home Health job postings have continued to recede, down 18.8% and 7.3%, respectively, over the last year. 

Line chart showing job postings in Nursing, Physicians & Surgeons, and Personal Care & Home Health to January 12, 2024. Physicians & Surgeons postings have notched recent gains, while Nursing and Personal Care & Home Health postings have dropped further. 
Line chart showing job postings in Nursing, Physicians & Surgeons, and Personal Care & Home Health to January 12, 2024. Physicians & Surgeons postings have notched recent gains, while Nursing and Personal Care & Home Health postings have dropped further. 

Therapy roles are also one of the few categories still adding postings (even by the slimmest of margins), up 0.8% year-year as of Jan. 12. Dental job postings mostly dropped in the fourth quarter, and are now down 10.6% from a year ago, while Pharmacy roles have fallen 4.5% over the past year. 

Line chart showing job postings in Pharmacy, Therapy, and Dental to January 12, 2024. Therapy has gained job postings, while Pharmacy and Dental have declined.
Line chart showing job postings in Pharmacy, Therapy, and Dental to January 12, 2024. Therapy has gained job postings, while Pharmacy and Dental have declined.

Wage Growth

The Indeed Wage Tracker shows that advertised pay in most categories is growing at a faster annual rate than the national average from December 2023 (3.8%). But while overall growth is strong, wage growth in all categories slowed in the second half of 2023. 

Table showing year-over-year growth in posted wages through December 2023, and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Personal Care & Home Health and Nursing wages have grown 3.7% and 2.1% year-over-year, respectively.
Table showing year-over-year growth in posted wages through December 2023, and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Personal Care & Home Health and Nursing wages have grown 3.7% and 2.1% year-over-year, respectively.

For more labor market insights from the Indeed Hiring Lab, visit us at hiringlab.org.