The U.S. Healthcare Workforce Outlook: Trends, Demand and the Talent Challenge

Author: Dr Vedika Saxena

The United States healthcare system is entering a period of sustained workforce demand shaped by demographic change, increasing healthcare utilization, evolving models of care, advances in technology and changing workforce expectations.

For healthcare organizations, the workforce challenge is no longer limited to filling vacancies. It increasingly involves identifying professionals with the appropriate clinical expertise, credentials, experience and availability for specific roles and locations.

For healthcare professionals, this environment is creating a broader range of opportunities across clinical care, allied health, healthcare management, behavioral health, diagnostics, technology and specialized healthcare industries.

The workforce outlook points to a healthcare employment market that will remain structurally important to the US economy over the coming decade.

A healthcare workforce market with sustained demand

The latest projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provide a clear indication of the scale of this demand.

BLS projects approximately 1.9 million openings each year, on average, across healthcare occupations between 2025 and 2035. These openings reflect both employment growth and the need to replace professionals who leave healthcare occupations permanently.

At the broader industry level, BLS projects that the healthcare and social assistance sector will grow by 8.4% and add approximately 1.98 million jobs between 2024 and 2034. This represents the highest projected employment growth and the largest number of additional jobs among the major industry sectors analyzed by BLS.

The latest occupational projections reinforce the same trend. Between 2025 and 2035, employment in healthcare practitioners and technical occupations is projected to grow by 8.0%, while healthcare support occupations are projected to grow by 13.3%. Together, these two occupational groups are expected to account for almost one third of all new jobs created in the US economy during the projection period.

These figures demonstrate that healthcare workforce demand is not a short term phenomenon. It is closely connected to long term demographic and healthcare utilization trends.

Healthcare talent extends well beyond physicians and nurses

Healthcare workforce discussions often focus on physicians and registered nurses. Both remain central to the delivery of care, but the healthcare workforce is significantly broader.

Hospitals, health systems, outpatient networks, rehabilitation providers, behavioral health organizations, diagnostic centers, senior care organizations and healthcare related businesses require professionals across multiple disciplines.

These include:

• Registered Nurses and Nursing Supervisors
• Nurse Managers
• Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
• Primary Care Providers
• Physical Therapists
• Radiology Technologists
• Behavioral Health professionals
• Laboratory professionals
• Medical and Health Services Managers
• Environmental, Health and Safety professionals
• Healthcare technology professionals
• Medical device and life sciences specialists
• Engineering and manufacturing professionals supporting healthcare products and services

This diversity is important because workforce requirements vary considerably by organization, specialty and geography.

A hospital may require experienced emergency department nursing leadership. A healthcare system may need radiology technologists in a particular market. A behavioral health organization may require professionals with specific clinical credentials. A healthcare manufacturer may need engineering professionals with experience in regulated production environments.

The common requirement is not simply access to talent. It is access to relevant talent.

Physician workforce pressure has a significant geographic dimension

The physician workforce illustrates why national workforce statistics do not tell the entire story.

The Health Resources and Services Administration's National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects an overall shortage of approximately 141,160 full time equivalent physicians by 2038, including a projected shortage of 70,610 primary care physicians. HRSA projects shortages in 30 of the 35 physician specialties included in its analysis.

The geographic distribution of the projected shortage is particularly significant.

HRSA projects that nonmetropolitan areas could experience a 58% physician shortage in 2038, compared with a projected 5% shortage in metropolitan areas. For primary care physicians, HRSA projects a 39% shortage in nonmetropolitan areas.

This highlights an important aspect of healthcare workforce planning.

A qualified professional may exist within the national workforce, but that does not necessarily mean that the professional is available in the market where the need exists.

For healthcare organizations, workforce planning therefore increasingly requires consideration of:

Specialization | Credentials | Experience | Location | Availability

Nursing remains a critical workforce priority

Nursing continues to represent one of the largest and most strategically important segments of the US healthcare workforce.

However, the requirement is increasingly focused on specific clinical experience and leadership capability rather than simply increasing the overall number of nurses.

Emergency departments, maternal and child health, behavioral health, critical care and other specialized environments require professionals with different experience profiles and competencies.

Workforce stability is also an important consideration.

AMN Healthcare's 2025 Survey of Registered Nurses, based on more than 12,000 responses, found that 61% of nurses planned to make some form of career change within one year. The survey included changes such as moving to another job, department, schedule or role, pursuing additional education or retiring. The survey also reported that 58% of nurses felt burned out most days.

These findings indicate that recruitment and retention should increasingly be considered as interconnected components of workforce strategy.

For healthcare organizations, filling an open position is only one element of workforce planning. Retaining experienced professionals and creating sustainable working environments are equally relevant to long term workforce stability.

Advanced practice professionals are becoming increasingly important

The changing structure of healthcare delivery is also increasing the importance of advanced practice professionals.

The latest BLS projections place Nurse Practitioners among the fastest growing occupations in the US, with projected employment growth of 41% between 2025 and 2035.

BLS projects Nurse Practitioner employment to increase from approximately 320,000 positions in 2025 to approximately 448,800 in 2035.

The growth of advanced practice roles reflects the continued development of team based care models and the need to expand access to healthcare services.

At the same time, workforce availability remains dependent on geography, specialization, credentials, compensation and individual professional preferences.

A national workforce projection therefore does not necessarily translate into straightforward recruitment for an individual healthcare organization.

Behavioral health remains an important workforce priority

Healthcare workforce planning also extends beyond physical healthcare.

Behavioral health has become an increasingly important component of healthcare delivery, while workforce availability remains uneven across professions and geographic markets.

HRSA's workforce projections identify continuing workforce requirements across behavioral health occupations, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors, addiction counselors and other behavioral health professionals.

The workforce challenge in behavioral health is particularly relevant because access depends not only on the availability of qualified professionals, but also on the distribution of those professionals across communities.

For healthcare organizations, this makes specialized talent identification and geographic reach important elements of workforce planning.

Allied health is an essential part of healthcare delivery

Some of the most important workforce requirements exist outside the traditional physician and nursing categories.

Radiology technologists, physical therapists, laboratory professionals, respiratory therapists and other allied health professionals are integral to diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and patient care.

The latest BLS projections continue to show strong employment growth across a range of healthcare and allied health occupations. For example, physical therapist employment is projected to grow by 10.9% between 2024 and 2034, while Nurse Practitioner employment is projected to grow by 40.1% during the same period.

The current 2025 to 2035 BLS projections also identify several healthcare support and clinical occupations among the fastest growing occupations in the US economy.

This workforce is increasingly operating alongside advanced diagnostic equipment, digital healthcare systems and technology enabled models of care.

Technology does not simply change the healthcare environment. It changes the skills and competencies required from the professionals working within it.

Healthcare also depends on specialized technical talent

The healthcare workforce extends beyond clinical and direct patient care roles.

Healthcare depends on an extensive ecosystem of organizations involved in medical devices, laboratory equipment, manufacturing, packaging, materials, life sciences, safety, quality and healthcare technology.

These organizations require professionals across engineering, manufacturing, quality, compliance, environmental health and safety and other specialized disciplines.

For example, a healthcare manufacturing organization may require an engineer who combines technical expertise with experience in regulated manufacturing, quality systems, production processes and healthcare applications.

These positions may not carry traditional healthcare job titles, but they form an important part of the infrastructure that enables healthcare delivery.

This is another area where access to specialized talent can become a strategic workforce consideration.

Staffing is increasingly connected to care delivery

Workforce planning is also becoming increasingly connected to operational and clinical performance.

AMN Healthcare's 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey, released in September 2026, surveyed 4,040 healthcare professionals across leadership and frontline roles.

The survey found that 85% of nurses, 75% of allied health professionals and 72% of physicians reported experiencing staffing related care disruptions at some frequency.

The survey also found that only 18% of nurses considered current staffing levels adequate, while 41% reported satisfaction with their workload.

These findings reinforce the relationship between workforce strategy and healthcare operations.

Staffing is not only an HR consideration. Workforce availability can influence workload, continuity, access to services and the ability of healthcare teams to operate effectively.

The workforce challenge is increasingly about precision

The direction of the US healthcare workforce market suggests a shift in how organizations approach talent.

The question is increasingly moving from:

How quickly can we fill the position?

to:

How precisely can we identify the professional who meets the requirements of the position?

For specialized healthcare roles, that distinction is significant.

A healthcare organization may require a professional who meets a specific combination of clinical experience, credentials, technical skills, leadership experience, geographic availability and organizational requirements.

The relevant workforce equation is therefore becoming:

Role + Skills + Credentials + Experience + Location + Availability

For healthcare professionals, the equation is also changing.

Career decisions increasingly involve more than compensation. Schedule, professional development, leadership, organizational culture, location and the ability to apply specialist expertise are all relevant factors in evaluating an opportunity.

The result is a healthcare employment market in which both organizations and professionals have become more deliberate about fit.

How quickly can we fill the position?

The US healthcare workforce will continue to evolve as demographic trends, technology, care delivery models and workforce expectations change.

Some occupations will experience particularly strong growth. Some shortages will remain concentrated in specific geographic markets. Experienced professionals will retire, while new professionals enter the workforce with different expectations regarding career development and workplace flexibility.

The fundamental requirement, however, remains consistent.

Healthcare organizations need access to qualified professionals who can meet the specific requirements of their roles and care environments.

Healthcare professionals need access to opportunities where their qualifications, experience and professional objectives are aligned.

This is where an effective healthcare talent ecosystem can create value.

EWANDZ works within this ecosystem, connecting healthcare and healthcare related organizations with professionals across clinical, allied health, management, technical and specialized roles.

The focus is on creating relevant connections between people, skills and opportunities, supported by an understanding of the requirements of both the organization and the professional.

As the US healthcare workforce continues to evolve, the ability to make those connections efficiently and accurately will become an increasingly important component of workforce strategy.

The future of healthcare workforce development will not be defined only by the number of professionals available.

It will increasingly be defined by how effectively organizations can connect the right people, with the right skills, to the right opportunities at the right time.