Seventy Percent of Gen Z Healthcare Workers Plan to Seek New Roles Within a Year

About 70% of Generation Z U.S. healthcare workers expect to seek a new role within the next year, compared with 59% of healthcare workers overall, intensifying concerns about staffing shortages that could approach 500,000 workers by 2038. The survey suggests younger workers are pursuing career advancement and professional development rather than rejecting long-term employment: 65% expect to remain with one employer for at least five years, and 95% value job stability and security. Only about one-quarter of employees strongly trust their employers to support long-term career growth, while 47% of employers cite inadequate advancement, training or education as a leading reason workers leave. Although 75% of workers are interested in further education and 81% would consider employer-sponsored programs, fewer than half of employers have a comprehensive workforce-education strategy. Employers also continue to view AI skills as important, though the share calling them critical has declined from the previous year.
Gen Z places a higher priority on advancement than older healthcare workers: 89% said clear opportunities for career advancement are important, compared with 77% of workers from older generations, and 86% said education or learning new skills would help them move up.
Fewer than half of Gen Z healthcare workers feel very loyal to their current employer, while three-quarters of employers say recruiting and retaining Gen Z is important as older workers approach retirement.
The workforce challenge is compounded by an aging nursing workforce: the Health Resources and Services Administration reports that one in three nurses is over age 50.
Among employers that already offer workforce-education programs, 89% say those programs improve retention and career mobility, although only 48% have a comprehensive program in place.
Publishers
8
Articles
223
Reach
231