Salary and flexibility top factors in healthcare hiring — Adfire survey

CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES — Competitive salaries and a flexible work schedule are important factors for nurses and physicians, respectively, when choosing a healthcare employer, according to a survey by healthcare recruitment marketing solutions Adfire Health.

The first report covered 752 nurses from 30 states with 30 different specializations, including ambulatory care, addiction, administrator, case management, and critical care.

More than half, or 54.5%, cited salary as an important factor in choosing an employer. It’s followed by a collegial work environment (46.6%), flexible scheduling (42.2%), patient workload (31.5%), and location (31%).

Meanwhile, the second report surveyed 112 physicians in the U.S. from 35 states with 30 specialty areas, including internal medicine, dermatology, family practice, psychiatry, and urology.

Forty-two percent of physicians value flexible scheduling when choosing a healthcare employer, followed by location (35.7%), diversity (33.8%), salary (29.9%), and professional growth (25.9%).

Additionally, low salary is the top reason for nurses (42.6) and physicians (38.4%) for rejecting job offers from healthcare firms.

Preliminary fed data shows healthcare jobs in the country surged to 70,000 in January, up from the 38,000 it gained in December 2023. The new healthcare jobs make up 20% of the nonfarm payroll tally, which summed to 353,000.