Six hospital and health system HR executives shared the top workforce trends they believe leaders should be watching in 2025.
1. Workforce well-being and holistic health. Employee wellness is crucial for health systems to maintain a healthy culture and workforce. At Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth, leaders are approaching wellness holistically.
“We have a workforce in our industry that is so focused and compassionate on caring for everyone that there is little time to care for themselves,” said Olesea Azevedo, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief people officer. “One of the ways [chief human resource officers]s will need to be thinking about is: How do we change the holistic view of how we care for our workforce — physical and emotional needs? We’re in healthcare, what if we had the healthiest workforce across all industries?!”
2. Rising cost of healthcare. Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. are affected by rising costs. In discussing the issue and her organization, Ms. Azevedo said she sees opportunities to create a value-based plan for employees that lowers costs but also has certain health requirements that improve health outcomes, such as requirements for workers to see their primary care physician within a certain time frame and engage with a care concierge team that supports access to the right care providers.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how that progresses in our own health plan pilot, with the intent to create a healthier workforce and provide a more affordable health plan,” she said.
3. Preparing digitally ready teams. With emerging technologies, hospitals and health systems are considering how to ensure their workforce is prepared. Keeping up with technologies is certain to require flexibility.
“Many available technologies that will improve consumer and workforce experience, can now be implemented in months vs. years,” Ms. Azevedo said. “How do we as [human resources leaders] prepare organizations for this level of agility and transformation to be able to keep up with the pace of technology that is going to be available?”
4. Persistent talent shortages. Hospital and health systems are continuing to focus on recruitment and retention to fill workforce gaps. Ms. Azevedo noted that filling these gaps will involve an array of creative approaches at AdventHealth. These approaches include partnerships with colleges to boost the talent pipeline, expanding the health system’s international team, and exposing middle and high school students to potential careers in healthcare.
“We’re looking to expand to be able to support talent shortages and create those pipelines,” she said. “But also, we have our own university, and we’re tripling the number of nurses we’re going to matriculate through our university and partnering with multiple colleges across each market.”
5. Skill-based job structure. Hospitals and health systems are building talent pools in various ways. At Houston Methodist, one approach is using skill-based job architecture.
“We’re reorganizing the various jobs that we have, the types of roles and how those roles are leveled, and, more specifically, placing a priority on skills that are necessary to perform each of these jobs,” Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Brown said. “Rather than the traditional approach of looking at years of experience and education as primary factors, we’re shifting to more of a skill-based approach for identifying talent pools and hiring very capable professionals to come join Houston Methodist.”
6. Financial well-being for employees. In workforce planning, CHROs must expand their focus on affordability for team members and their families in order to recruit and retain talent in the communities they serve, said Maxine Carrington, chief people officer at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health. Rising costs, especially for housing and childcare, create stress for employees and their loved ones. While employers cannot solve everything, they can do more to help, she said.
“Organizations are rethinking their approach to benefits, investing more in financial well-being programs for the entire family, and educating employees on available community resources in simple and convenient ways,” Ms. Carrington said. “This includes whole-family support such as childcare subsidies, scholarship information, food assistance, ESL education and immigration services — resources that can be life-changing for many.”
7. Data-driven decision making. Because healthcare is in a period of stabilization — including workforces and financial performance — it is critical for CHROs to use data to identify the areas they should focus on and measure ROI to ensure they are prioritizing the right interventions, Amy Beales, CHRO of Annapolis, Md.-based Luminis Health, told Becker’s.
“When organizations are trying to stretch themselves to do everything and do it well, it makes it hard to accomplish what they need to,” Ms. Beales said. By using a calculated focus during this stabilization period and measuring ROI to guide improvements, organizations will have greater strides in where they need to go, she said.
8. Deepening AI expertise. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, systems are seeing increased demand for flexible work models and rising costs for workplace programs aimed at retention and engagement. In response, CHROs must develop a stronger understanding of AI-driven solutions to generate data-driven insights, enhance transparency around ROI, and manage program costs, Ekta Vyas, CHRO of Keck Medicine of USC, told Becker’s.
“[M]ore specifically providing evidence-based insights for mitigating risks and program shifts and future investments,” she said. “It is crucial to analyze historical data from various platforms and leverage your own data for predictive analytics [such as] predicting staffing needs and flight risk, staffing optimization and evaluation of organizational health through integrating data across employee lifecycle touchpoints,” she added.
9. Fostering a strong culture. Health systems are strengthening workplace culture by focusing on both recruitment and long-term employee retention. At Sioux Falls, N.C.-based Sanford Health, fostering a “culture of listening” has played a key role in supporting and engaging the workforce.
“There’s a lot of conversation around recruitment and ensuring we have enough talent to care for our community. However, just as important is retaining those who have built lifelong careers within the Sanford community,” DJ Campbell, vice president and CHRO for Sanford Health’s Bismarck (N.D.) market, told Becker’s. “To support this, we’ve developed a robust culture of listening — gathering regular feedback through both technology and in-person conversations, including rounding with staff. These listening strategies have delivered significant returns, with year-over-year improvements in employee retention and engagement, as reflected in lower turnover rates and higher employee experience survey scores,” he said.
10. Harnessing technology. With ongoing workforce shortages, filling every open position isn’t feasible. To mitigate this challenge, many health systems are leveraging technology to streamline administrative tasks, reduce clinician burnout and maximize patient-facing time for physicians and other providers.
“Given ongoing workforce shortages, the reality is that we won’t be able to fill every open position. The U.S. census data alone tells us this is a numbers game. That’s why we must leverage technology to bridge some of these gaps,” Mr. Campbell said. “A great example is the ambient listening technology we’ve implemented for physicians. This tool allows them to turn on a program during patient visits that transcribes and enters notes directly into medical records. Not only does this save time and improve efficiency, but it also enables physicians to see more patients — particularly critical in subspecialties where we may have only one or two doctors.”