Home care provider Home Instead Inc. has a goal to hire 25,000 new care professionals this year, or about 25% to 30% more than last year. While that number sounds bold, it won’t even make a dent in the millions of workers the home healthcare industry needs to add over the next several years. With a current workforce of 65,000 home healthcare workers in the U.S. and Canada, Home Instead faces an industry churn rate of about 65% and a tight labor market where there’s only 5.7 million unemployed Americans to fill about 10 million open jobs nationally.
“It’s an ambitious push because there’s an ambitious need,” said Jisella Dolan, chief advocacy officer for Home Instead, an Honor company. “The desire to age in place, to age at home is real. The demand is there and is growing. Healthcare is moving to the home. We saw it come to life in the pandemic – home care is a crucial part of healthcare.” Read: Want to age in place? You may have a robot keeping you company. According to AARP, nearly 90% of adults over 65 would prefer to age-in-place as they grow older. In-home care professionals for older adults provide support for daily activities such as bathing, meal preparation, mobility, medication management, and other aspects of safety in the …