The health care industry needs workers. So it's turning to former factory and retail workers

[IronLionZion]

http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/21/news/economy/health-care-worker-shortage-ohio/index.html



Connie Ellis had been working at railroad operator CSX Corp. for seven years when she accepted a buyout package and left the company.
In the three years since, she's worked as a janitor at a local college, then as a quality manager at an auto supplier. But she wanted a position that offered a lot more job security - and better pay than those jobs.

When she heard about the growing demand for health care workers, she started looking around and found Mercy College of Ohio about 10 minutes away.

The school, which is based in Toledo, specializes in health sciences and offers 16 programs that train students for a variety of medical professions, including certificate programs that can be completed in as little as one semester to master's degrees.

At job fairs and community events, Mercy College's recruiters are seeking out students from a variety of fields, but especially the manufacturing and retail sectors -- which have been hit by layoffs after big companies like General Motors, DHL and Toys R Us left scores of people looking for work.

That could prove to be a real boon for the area's health care system, said Jason Theadore, vice president of ambulatory services and business development with Mercy Health, which partners with the college and operates 23 hospitals and 500 health care centers throughout the state.

This is a great option for many liberals looking to improve their station in life while conservatives wait patiently for Trump's imaginary jobs to never come back and get rid of those job stealing immigrants.

I grew up in Appalachian Trump country. I've noticed a big improvement in attitude and quality of life for the laid off workers who retrained for health care jobs vs the ones who blame immigrants. There just aren't very many immigrants in Appalachia and approximately 0 working in coal mines.

[MineralMan]

1. In Minnesota, entry-level medical staff people get minimum wage.

Even CNAs working in care facilities. When you visit a memory care unit here, you'll discover that all of the patient contact staff are Somali immigrants who have completed a short course at a local community college. They get $12/hr. My mother-in-law was in such a place. It was understaffed. The care staff, while compassionate, had poor English language skills and too little time to provide the care required by elders with dementia.

[IronLionZion]

4. Entry level jobs of any type tend to have lower wages

my current coworkers still don't know how I clawed my way out of the crab barrel from washing dishes for $4.40 an hour (below minimum wage, no tips) 20 years ago to a business management position now.

Most people would not believe how many people tried to step on my head along the way to stop me from climbing up the ladder.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes, but, if you're a Certified Nursing Assistant, you get

the going rate for CNAs, which is $12/hr. here. There's no path to advancement unless you continue school and upgrade your certification. Ask for a raise, and you'll be looking for another job. That's how it is, and care for patients suffers because of it.

[IronLionZion]

12. That's the case with many jobs

I've been let go and unemployed many times in my life. I was let go from dish washing because I asked for minimum wage, which would be a raise.

Training and certifications are a normal fact of life for many Americans. I've done a full workday, and a 4 hour commute, and came home to study until I fell asleep from exhaustion. And wake up early the next day to do it again. I don't have kids but that has been an excuse for many of my colleagues for why they didn't do the same.

I've moved across states about 10 times for work. That's a hardship for some people but that's what needs to be done for many jobs. I have the resume of an immigrant but the accent and documents of an American. My parents lived in the same house for 30 years. It's also a generational difference because the woman I'm dating has also moved around a lot in the US and overseas but her parents have lived in the same Minnesotan suburb for 40 years. Neither of us have any interest in kids or playing house.

[mitch96]

7. "entry-level medical staff people get minimum wage."

Down here in Florida the diploma mills just keep dumping them out with no job prospects. Huge debt from these scamming schools. One cute thing these hospitals are doing is giving people "per diem" or temp jobs. They call when they need you and cancel you if it's slow. Low pay and no bennies. They save a ton of money that way.
Nurses are always in demand but sad to say, it's a burn out job.
I was fortunate to catch the peak and after 40 years bailed when it got crazy. I loved my job and helping sick people but hospitals are just a money making business now. I understand a hospital needs to make money to survive in this climate and patient care suffers. The suits don't care... YMMV just my 2¢ from the trenches...
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[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the wages/attitude toward healthcare workers if

white men start taking those jobs instead of white women and POC. In tech, wages went up as men took over coding/programming from women, and indicators show they're going down as more women try to get back into those jobs.

[IronLionZion]

3. I've seen coding jobs without any US citizens applying for them, only H-1bs

There are many different levels of programming. The lower levels will be browner and pay less. Talented programmers at companies like Google or Apple make very high salaries.

It is also regional. Rural and red state areas will have a harder time attracting talent and have to use visa workers who have to endure racism. Popular cities like San Francisco, NY, Austin, Portland, Seattle, etc. will have many more applicants for such jobs.

[Sherman A1]

5. Some of these jobs will also be

The subject of automation and new technologies going forward. This will help in the short term, but the health care industry is not the entire solution for the future of work.

[IronLionZion]

6. Health care is part of the human experience

we will always need it. And there are many widely different types of jobs in this very large industry. It's one option to look at and earn some dollars while looking for something better.

Even many tech jobs like to hire people who know something about healthcare if the customers are healthcare.

[Sherman A1]

8. It is indeed part of the human experience

And much of that has been automated along the way, healthcare is and will be as well.

[IronLionZion]

9. There are limits to what can be automated

much of health care requires a human to make decisions and have personal close contact with patients. I'm sure they're trying but there are plenty of limits to it.

[Sherman A1]

11. I used to think that

today, I have serious doubts that there really are limits.