Job hugging is the new job hopping
Job-hugging is a new form of job-hopping due to the slowdown in the labor market.
The government shutdown has delayed the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment data, but while there are some bright spots for job seekers, private data suggests the market remains tough.
Employers added just 22,000 jobs in August in the latest publicly available BLS employment report. Most industries were flat or contracted, but health care and social assistance drove most of the increase, adding about 31,000 and 16,000 jobs, respectively. The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and bars, also added 28,000 jobs in August. Still, losses in other sectors offset those gains.
Over the past few months, health care and social assistance have emerged as reliable drivers of job growth. Over the past three months, BLS data shows that health care added about 114,000 jobs and social assistance added about 63,000 jobs. Together, they account for nearly three-quarters of the employment growth over the same period.
Over the past year, BLS data shows these two sectors accounted for just over half of all new jobs, with health care adding about 499,000 jobs and social assistance adding about 333,000.
While the market may be tough for job seekers outside of these industries, staffing agency experts say there are still opportunities wherever you look.
What kind of work falls under health and social assistance?
In the BLS data framework, the healthcare sector includes outpatient healthcare services (e.g., ambulatory care), hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care facilities. The social assistance sector covers individual and family services, community food and shelter, emergency and other relief services, vocational rehabilitation services, and child care services.
In healthcare, employment growth is relatively stable across subsectors, while within social assistance there is strong demand for personal and family services.
On the clinical side, employers are seeking roles for registered nurses, radiology technicians, physical therapists, nursing assistants, phlebotomists and home health aides, said Raj Namboosiri, senior vice president at staffing firm Manpower North America.
Non-clinical roles are also sought after. Jessica Johnson, Robert Half’s vice president of administrative and customer support operations, said the company is seeing increased demand for workers in areas such as credentialing, insurance verification, office administration and administration, patient registration, member services, registration and financial reconciliation.
Mr Johnson added that “skilled people are currently hard to find for any role”, prompting some employers in these sectors to incentivize the recruitment and retention of staff despite signs of cooling in the broader labor market.
Why health care and social assistance continue to grow
Experts say the health and social assistance sectors are benefiting from the recovery from the pandemic, an aging population and a growing shift to home health care and telemedicine.
“Healthcare is becoming more of an ecosystem than just one service at a time. It’s like a river branching out into all different streams,” Johnson says. “You typically think of traditional medicine, right? But there’s also mental health, home care, telemedicine, wellness, etc. The definition continues to expand.”
Therefore, the number of health workers supporting these services needs to be expanded, Johnson added.
Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Institute, said the field is also embracing artificial intelligence and other technological advances, creating new opportunities across the field.
Weingarten noted that medical demand is not tied to the broader economic cycle.
“If I get sick, I’m going to get sick and need medical services,” he said.
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown may also be playing a role in the increased demand for health care workers. Immigrants make up 17% of the total U.S. workforce, but they make up 31% of the home care worker workforce and 21% of the residential care aide and nursing assistant workforce, according to a 2024 report from Leading Age, an organization representing nonprofit senior care providers.
Although the social assistance sector includes a variety of services, social workers make up the majority of its workforce. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts that demand for BLS will increase by 6% from 2024 to 2034, which is faster than the average for all occupations. This growth may be driven by factors such as the aging baby boomer generation and increased demand for mental illness and substance abuse treatment, the handbook says.
What job seekers need to know
The job market isn’t all doom and gloom. ManpowerGroup’s Employment Outlook Survey released in September found that 38% of employers plan to hire in the final quarter of this year.
Job seekers looking to secure a stable position may want to look to the medical field, which is relatively recession-proof for people with the “right mindset” and aptitude, Namboosiri said.
Johnson said that while there will probably always be a need for skilled workers to fill critical roles in most fields, health care is not just an opportunity for front-line workers.
“You might consider nonprofit healthcare organizations that support hospitals. You might look at digital or healthcare technology. Maybe apps that focus on health and wellness,” she said. “If you’re interested in health care, there are a lot of options.”
Contact Rachel Barber rbarber@usatoday.com X Follow her at @rachelbarber_
