NOS | Jeroen van Eijndhoven
NOS Nieuws•morgen, 00:01
In one year, 21,000 extra people started working in healthcare. 155,000 employees in the care and welfare sector stopped, and 176,000 were added. A small plus in times of staff shortages in healthcare, where a total of 1.4 million people work. The number of outflows has recently increased, according to the latest figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
It concerns people who have left the industry: employees who retire and staff who leave for another reason. “It is largely young people. Perhaps these are people who worked in the testing and vaccination locations during the corona crisis, for example, and then went on to do something else,” says Peter Hein van Mulligen, chief economist at CBS.
The majority of people who quit go to another industry. According to Van Mulligen, it is also very easy to find another job due to the tight labor market. Some of the quitters have become self-employed. They often continue to work in healthcare.
‘It’s nice to be there for someone else’
Someone who just went into care is Bart from Breda. He has been working for the Ministry of Defense for twenty years, and was deployed to Afghanistan, among other places. He made the choice to transfer within Defense. “I was always caring within the teams, I am quite a connector between people.” He started thinking about his future at the Ministry of Defense and did an internship outside the organisation. “That was a complete switch, then you really see what is going on behind the front door. It was clear to me: I will continue with this.”
He now takes care of mental health care for staff internally. “That ranges from problems at home to information during deployment.” Appreciation is especially important to him: “Being a listening ear is worth so much to people and it is greatly appreciated. It’s nice to be there for someone else.”
Bart also goes along during broadcasts to guide people. “The most important thing is that I help others get back on track.”
NOS/CBSThe inflow and outflow of healthcare personnel in recent years
In the longer term, Statistics Netherlands sees a growth in entrants. Van Mulligen: “The number of people working in healthcare has been growing for years, including last quarter. This has everything to do with the high demand for healthcare personnel. A lot of care is needed, including home care and childcare.”
Statistics Netherlands notes that there is a lot of work pressure among healthcare personnel, but despite corona, job satisfaction is stable. “People who work in healthcare generally get a lot of energy from it, find their work very satisfying but also heavy.”
The rise seems to be a drop in the ocean. The shortage among healthcare personnel was already 49,000 people last year. That will rise to 135,000 in the coming years.
Same salary as customer service
For René from Lelystad, after 32 years in healthcare, it’s done. He wants to quit his job in a nursing home because he can no longer handle the workload. “Physically it has deteriorated. I had surgery on my right knee. The surgeon said to me, if you continue like this for another ten years, they will be completely worn out. And that wear and tear is purely from work.”
The changing shifts, the high workload and his salary were also reasons to stop. “At a certain point you’re at your max and you can’t get any further. My eldest son’s friends work for customer service, they earn almost more than me. They’re 20-year-old guys. I’m 50.”
In the nursing home where René works, he was recently on his own, three colleagues are still needed for the full occupancy. “There is a limit, it ends somewhere. He is still looking for another job. He does not rule out working elsewhere in healthcare.
2023-08-21 22:01:02
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