The Workforce Corner: Generation Y Is Healthcare's New Workforce

CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, and countless other internet job search engines offer tons of advice about millennials. Whether it’s an article about managing them or whether it’s a blog offering them career expertise, everyone has an opinion on Generation Y.

This generation’s attitudes and perceptions of success differ from that of the Baby Boomers. Now with the increase in life expectancy over the years this has increased the need for workers in the healthcare industry.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development did a study on Wisconsin’s aging workforce and has predicted that between 2000 to 2030 the population over the age of 65 will double. The healthcare industry faces unique challenges because of the nature of the industry. However, it still follows the classic rule of supply and demand.

Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (CEP, Inc.)—service provider for Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board, Inc. (NWWIB)—hosts Medical Discovery Days. Medical Discovery Days introduces high school students in grades 9-12 to careers in the medical field and the local academic programs. Area Health Education Center (AHEC) has provided funding over the years for several field trips for high schools in NWWIB’s region.

“This program gives area students the opportunity to spend time discovering healthcare careers and what they can mean for them,” said Amy Ernest, CEP, Inc. employment specialist and co-leader of Medical Discovery Days. “Students have the chance to meet the professionals, go behind the scenes as they tour medical facilities, as well as take a trip to a technical college to learn how to jump start their healthcare career.”

Millennials, or Generation Y, are young adults born roughly between 1980-2000. This generation is also demographically as large as the Baby Boomers. Many of these individuals are concerned with being able to have flexibility to express themselves in the workplace. Feedback is highly valued and they want it on everything from the presentation they just made, how they wait on customers or clients, the window display they just designed, and everything else. Additionally, their expectations about their career are not the same as previous generations.

Generally, millennials do not expect to retire from the same company they initially started out in. Since the recession, lay-offs are a common occurrence in any industry, even if an individual has been working at that organization for more than twenty years. Millennials attitudes about career success and achievement have been adapted to what they see as being attainable. This is why retention and recruitment strategies need to be considered in order to attract this Generation Y to stay and come to this region. According to Wisconsin’s Healthcare Workforce 2010 Report, hospitals and other healthcare facilities struggle with recruiting and retaining their workforce. Within the last six years, healthcare providers in Wisconsin have started to adapt creative strategies to gather interest from potential workers.

For a region like northern Wisconsin to thrive, retention of millennials should be a primary focus to bolster the economy and maintain a constant workforce supply. NWWIB and CEP, Inc. have increased their focus on healthcare through programs, such as the Direct Care Worker Initiative and soon through the Ashland-Bayfield Counties EMT Awareness Project. To learn more about these initiatives and more, please visit www.nwcep.org and www.nwwib.com.