Author: Scott Schnierer

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how Healthcare is delivered in the US and affected the operations of healthcare facilities and medical offices.  According to U.S. News, from February to June, states across the nation have seen a marked loss in outpatient healthcare jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdowns, with New Jersey and Rhode Island seeing some of the steepest declines for medical and dental offices, medical labs, home health care and other outpatient services.  The suspension of elective (non-urgent) medical care amid the pandemic and patients’ fear of exposure, had taken a toll on health care businesses.  Many offices sat open but largely idle because patients were too scared to visit the doctor given the risk of running into someone with COVID-19 in the waiting room.  Previously since March, only emergency surgeries were permitted to be performed; now elective surgeries are finally allowed. 

Fortunately, in July, a renewed optimism prompted a sudden surge and rise of elective surgical appointments. Employment agencies are noticing the trend. Consequently, New Jersey employment agencies have strongly stepped in to lend a helping hand to staff medical facilities as they begin to reopen with safety measures in place, in order to resume care and treatment of ongoing health needs that had been postponed.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of Medical Assistants is projected to grow 19% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.  The growth of the aging baby-boom population will continue to increase the demand for preventive medical services, which are often provided by Physicians.  As a result, Physicians may need to hire more Medical Assistants to perform routine administrative and clinical support functions, allowing the Physicians to see more patients.  Medical Assistants not only assist and prep patients in exam rooms, but also process patient flow and scheduling up front.  Healthcare employment agencies are answering the call with providing qualified trained and experienced medical staff in highly skilled health care areas, such as Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Certified Medical Assistants.  An employment agency’s responsibility is to verify the license and check that a Certification is from a reputable organization.  In addition to reviewing credentials from states like New Jersey, the employment agency also performs reference checks. 

A healthcare employment agency also covers the need for flexible hours. For example, employment agencies provide employees who can work 2nd or 3rd shifts (evenings and weekends).  Many healthcare facilities operate a 24/7 office environment.

Additionally, as a matter of taking protective measures, medical offices are adhering to and following infection prevention and control recommendations tailored to their setting minimizing risks to both patients and staff.  In this new world, temporary employees from a health care employment agency are thoroughly trained to perform these task and given PPE in order to work next to employees.

With the increase in patient flow comes an increase in testing. In the medical laboratory and diagnostics environment, there is also an urgent need for Specimen Processors to process and test patient blood and specimen samples. In this role, employment agency employees not only read the results of various medical tests, they also receive the vial of patient’s blood, perform the test, and provide the diagnostic test results to patient by phone and email.

A healthcare employment agency is a viable partner to the medical community. They enlist a wide range of health care employees with specialties to satisfy the need for available pre-qualified ready-to-work employees.  The agency responds at rapid speed, as many of their employees have previous success in completing assignments in a health care office, laboratory, or hospital facility, for the employment agency.  This hiring activity can be placed in the hands of a reputable and established employment agency.

While there are difficult and challenging times for many industries across all sectors of the U.S. economy, fortunately there may be some positive news. There are signs of stable growth among companies that manufacture or produce durable goods or products (those we can touch). Those industries have always moved up and down with the economy, but consumers are still consuming products and business are still purchasing inputs in to their finished products.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (a division of the Department of Labor), as of August 7th, 2020, employment rose by 1.8 million in July, Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 38,000 in July.  Manufacturing added 26,000 jobs in July, with both durable goods (+15,000) and non durable goods (+11,000) adding jobs, following gains totaling 597,000 over the prior 2 months.  In July, motor vehicles and parts added 39,000 jobs, which were partly offset by declines in fabricated metals, machinery, and computer and electronic products.

After two months of declines, average hourly earnings for all employees in manufacturing increased by 17 cents in July.  Average hourly earnings of production workers rose by 22 cents over the month.  Average weekly hours of all employees rose 0.7 hour in July to 39.7 hours.  For production workers, the average work week rose 0.8 hour in July to 40.6 hours.

With the demand for talent and employees who can help meet corporate manufacturing goals and customer demand, companies are continuing to partner with employment agencies to provide qualified employees at a fast pace.

There are many warehouses and manufacturing facilities that require a temporary employee’s skill and experience to fill an immediate need. These companies now focus on increasing their supply of temporary employees to meet increasing product demand.  Labor categories in demand are pick packers, shipping & receiving materials management, machine assembly, machine operators and production work.  Temporary employees will work right along with full time directly employed manufacturing employees.  The employment agency carefully matches employees who fit in with the company culture while finding the right talent for the right job.

Manufacturing clients of temp agencies used to only hire employment agency employees for projects originally viewed as temporary in nature, such as seasonal periods. But more recently, there has been an increase in the utilization of temporary/contract employees for the eventual filling longer-term skilled full time staffing needs.

A temporary employment agency provides qualified and adaptable employees, allowing a company’s production or distribution transition to run smoothly. This staffing augmentation tool works to the manufacturer’s advantage, keeping an ongoing work flow. 

Human beings are still needed in order to manufacture goods. Robots and machines have not taken over the world. After all, it takes people and minds to make and assemble the products we need and love.

While many people are unfortunately out of work due to the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, employment agencies are constantly engaging their client companies to remind them that there is a huge talent pool of available candidates ready to return to work.

Smart job seekers have discovered that there is work being offered, even at this time. Even with unemployment at record high levels, and some equating this to a hiring freeze, the reality is that the job search is producing results. Partnering with an employment agency opens opportunities.

A recent study reports that one-third of all employees laid off during the pandemic have started new jobs.  Even as 11 million people were laid off during the month of March, 5 million workers were also hired in March. Active job seekers are reaping the reward of so many open jobs, preferring to work, over collecting unemployment (which eventually runs out).

This is a most opportune time as industries prepare to return to normal operation.  There are so many qualified candidates ready to apply for open jobs in companies.  For those people working in non-essential positions, it’s been a long three-month quarantine.  Now, especially for an employee who has had a prior successful relationship with an employment agency, there is a strong chance to be placed into one of the employment agency’s new positions, many of which may be available during this initial reopen phase.

Many companies will not be able to hire back so quickly on their own. A temporary employment agency will, with a sense of urgency, hire a replacement to reduce the strain on remaining staff, along with specialists in all areas of their medical staffing needs. The employment agency industry was established to assist companies with peak workloads and seasonal employment. Partnering with an employment agency gives it’s clients the ability to utilize skilled employees without the commitment of a full time hire and adding headcount. It’s a measured tool for staff augmentation.

Manufacturers of essential products are always in need of help.  This is where the employment agency comes in – helping to find the right talent!  These businesses are hiring, at warp speed!

The role of an employment agency is to create connection – between company and candidate.  Staffing agencies are instituting extreme measures to stay safe and protect their employees by ensuring sanitizing protocols at their clients.   The worker environment is going to change a little bit with the social or physical distancing.  Most recruiters at employment agencies are doing more video interviews than in the past, as ZOOM and other live video systems have become a positive method of connectivity of the hiring team with the candidate face-to-face, without the handshake and any potential exposure to the coronavirus, for businesses large and small, schools, families, and friends, in our new “current reality”.

When time is of the essence, a temporary employment agency is an asset to bring the perfect candidate through the door, or, during this pandemic, to your screen!