The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted lives across the globe. Social distancing and staying at home have become the new normal, and life as we knew it barely exists! The crisis has put pressure on healthcare service providers across the globe with medical professionals finding themselves in a race against time to find a cure for COVID-19. We do not know when this crisis will end so we can return to our lives before the pandemic.
Healthcare workers are at the forefront of the COVID-19 response. However, there is a massive shortage of healthcare workers because of the growing number of people affected by the coronavirus and healthcare workers themselves are getting infected.
- Many US states are fighting the pandemic and striving to save as many lives as they can. New York is sadly the worst hit and looking for medical help from all resources! A CNBC news article (https://bit.ly/nyc-covid-hiring) quoted NYC mayor Bill de Blasio stating that they will be hiring 1,000 healthcare workers in May to track people who had contact with individuals who tested positive for the coronavirus.
- Nurses play a vital role preventing further outbreaks and end the pandemic. As reported by UN News (https://bit.ly/un-news), the global nursing workforce is 27.9 million, of which 19.3 million are professional nurses. Although this sounds like a large number, the global requirement forecasted for the next ten years demands an increase of six million nurses! Sadly, the coronavirus crisis has worsened the situation.
- Keeping healthcare workers safe is also a crucial need. Without personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves, masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons, the lives of healthcare workers are being put on the line! Based on a projection by WHO (https://bit.ly/who-medical-device-shortage), an estimated 89 million medical masks, 76 million examination gloves, and 1.6 million goggles are required for the COVID-19 response each month. That massive demand is putting tremendous pressure on medical equipment manufacturing and distribution companies.
- Although the immediate demand is for treating coronavirus patients, we will need medical experts to make early detection tools available at every clinical facility and conduct clinical trials in the development of the vaccine and other medicines for six months or longer. On top of this, we are going to need healthcare professionals to treat health issues other than COVID-19.
- The US may relax interstate travel and licensure to enable healthcare professionals to travel to the heavily infected regions. The government is also contemplating relaxing immigration policies to fulfill the urgent hiring needs for skilled doctors from other countries.
Healthcare staffing firms are crucial in the fight against the pandemic since they provide a critical service to hospitals, medical labs, and medical equipment manufacturers. However, the recruiters of most staffing firms are stretched to the limit trying to cover the surge of job openings. Ramping up healthcare hiring to meet the growing demands created by the pandemic is a huge challenge for the staffing industry!
iPlace, one of the largest global recruiting firms, is filling crucial jobs on a massive scale with rapid turnaround. We are working closely with corporations and staffing firms in the US to address the urgent, high-volume hiring needs of industries providing essential services such as healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical devices, logistics, and retail (supermarket/grocery).
Join us in our fight against the coronavirus pandemic! Working together, we can help save the country by tackling the severe shortage of healthcare and other essential services professionals.