Healthcare sees high attrition; staff suffer burnout, anxiety

Chennai: Amidst the pandemic, the healthcare industry is facing a manpower challenge, with high attrition and high levels of burnout.

In a survey by job portal Indeed, 92 per cent of the employers cited difficulty in attracting new talent and lower productivity as their top challenges, while 68 per cent pointed to absenteeism, 56 per cent to high attrition and 48 to low employee morale as the main issue plaguing their organisation.

As in other industries, salaries and increments in the healthcare sector too were adversely impacted. Only half of all employees in the survey had received salary increments in the past 18 months, while half of all female employees had received salary increments that were lower than the norm.

Many healthcare workers experienced at least one health issue. Indeed’s data revealed anxiety among 60 per cent of the employees; depression among 45 per cent; physical stress among 47 per cent; and burnout among 26 per cent of the survey participants.

Weary healthcare workers—more than half (53 per cent) of them—said that one could not take long leaves during the pandemic despite 49 per cent of their employers proactively offering them long leaves.

The majority of frontline workers (77 per cent of the nurses and 80 per cent of the doctors) said they wanted a better work environment, with more effective communication. As many as 68 per cent of male employees and 51 per cent of female employees expected better compensation.

However, the demand in the sector still remains robust. Almost 34 per cent of all employers, comprising 43 per cent of all the top-tier corporate hospitals, 39 per cent of all mid-tier corporate hospitals, and 31 per cent of all nursing homes are planning to hire.