Some post-acute care companies are revamping their recruitment playbooks to attract Generation Z workers as they battle for talent with other healthcare companies.
Providers such as Good Samaritan Society, Bayada Home Health Care and Right at Home are developing strategies to recruit the demographic, which ranges in age from 12 to 27 and makes up a quarter of the U.S. population. Those organizations want to hire Gen Z because they are purpose-driven and adept at using technology, according to a 2023 study by financial services company Mercer.
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Nearly 69 million members of Gen Z are in the workforce now or will be entering it in a few years. The demographic came of age during a technology boom and societal changes including increased gun violence and heightened awareness of health equity, Mercer notes.
But attracting and retaining Gen Z workers can be tricky. They tend to be less tied to their employers than other generations, with two-thirds actively or passively seeking new jobs, according to the study. Many are also burdened by student loan debt that averages about $40,000, according to the nonprofit Educational Data Initiative.
That can make it harder for nursing homes and home health providers to compete for talent with large hospital systems or other employers that tend to pay better, said Donna Biederman, clinical professor at Duke University School of Nursing.
Some post-acute care providers are appealing to Gen Z members by offering advanced training that can help them improve their skills, better their careers and lead to pay increases.
Good Samaritan Society is among them. For the past year, the organization has been aggressively targeting Gen Z for its administrator-in-training program, a six-month intensive educational program that helps recent college graduates train for leadership positions within the nonprofit's 130 skilled nursing facilities across a dozen states. More than half of last year's cohort landed leadership positions within Good Samaritan Society after completing the program, said chief operating officer Aimee Middleton.
Good Samaritan Society targets college graduates like Deeqa Ali, who have degrees in healthcare or business administration.
The 23-year-old graduated in May from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. In June, she began training at a Good Samaritan Society skilled nursing facility in Howard Lake, Minnesota.
Ali said a strong sense of community service instilled by her immigrant parents, volunteer work and a part-time job at an assisted living facility during college sparked her interest in becoming a nursing home administrator.
“I researched [Good Samaritan Society] and I really liked their values and mission. That has been solidified throughout the entire AIT process,” Ali said.
Middleton said Good Samaritan Society operates nursing homes in mostly rural communities where the cost-of-living is lower. She said the nonprofit offers competitive pay in all of its markets, which also helps make it attractive to recruits.
Bayada Home Health Care is also emphasizing training and education to lure younger workers to nursing jobs across 21 states, said Steve Ireland, the nonprofit’s interim chief marketing officer. Approximately 14% or 4,100 of Bayada’s caregivers and clinicians are Gen Z.
Ireland said Bayada offers additional certifications in specialty areas, such as behavioral health and pediatrics, to nurse recruits. He said the certifications appeal to many young nurses who want additional training. He said home health also appeals to nurses who want to develop one-on-one relationships with patients.
But one of the biggest competitive challenges Bayada and other home-based care providers face isn’t about pay, training or benefits, according to Ireland — it's a lack of public awareness about the home health industry.
“Some people don’t even know these options exist,” Ireland said.
To counter that and increase awareness of home-based care opportunities, Bayada is strengthening ties with colleges and universities through educational programs and home healthcare rotations for nursing students, according to a spokesperson. The nonprofit is also increasing its social media presence.
Triton College in River Grove, Illinois discusses a variety of healthcare employment options in its certified nurse assistant program, which is made up mostly of Gen Z students, said program director Lilliana Macias. But she said home health tends to be a tough sell to younger students because they haven't been as exposed to it.
“They see [television show] Grey’s Anatomy and they want hospital life versus home care,” Macias said. “They don’t see a lot of advertisements or marketing for it out there.”
Right at Home has retooled its marketing to raise awareness among Gen Z workers, and has grown that part of its workforce to 12.5% from 9.6% in the past year, said Nikki Holles, vice president of people strategy. The company offers non-medical home services through 300 franchises across the country.
Right at Home and its franchisees are increasing their involvement in community and philanthropic organizations to better connect with socially conscious recruits. The company is also offering rewards programs to employees.
Michelle Rankine, a Right at Home franchisee in Lewisville, Texas, also added educational seminars on life skills such as personal banking and investing to keep her part-time workers engaged when they don’t have a client.
“One of the challenges with this demographic is they move quickly, so we have to do a much better job as an organization of constantly making a connection that is impactful,” Rankine said.
But pay, perks and other strategies may only go so far with some members of Gen Z, such as Katherine Davis, a 25-year-old nursing student at Northern Virginia Community College in Fairfax, Virginia. Davis said in an email she wants to work for an employer who will not only support her financially, but emotionally.
Davis is entering a field where more than one-third of 3,300 nurses polled last spring by job site Incredible Health said they suffer from burnout and mental health issues. Some post-acute care providers are seeking to ease that through technology. For example, hospice nurses at home-based care provider Amedisys are using a speech recognition platform to dictate patient information that cuts down on paperwork, according to a spokesperson. She said the technology is helping to reduce workloads and improve work-life balance for caregivers.
That balance is important to Davis.
“I want a work environment that inspires me and makes me happy, not one I’m afraid might be taking years off my life,” she said.
