Travel Jobs: Where Travelers Applied In August, Sept. Market Predictions
In last month’s update, we touched on how August serves as a transitional period for the travel healthcare job market. Many travelers looking to avoid the early wave of competition in July waited until August to search for a fall contract. At the same time, many travelers went back to work or squeezed in a bit more “paid vacation” by extending at their summer facilities through the month. Pediatric facilities may have needed more help, with parents bringing children in for check-ups before school and to get the first round of flu vaccinations. As such, our predictions for the total volume of applications on the StaffDNA job boards were mostly on the mark, dropping by about 12 percent from July to August. Market activity ramped up towards the end of the month, but not fast enough to reach July’s high number of applications. Travel healthcare jobs September 2018 We expect September to at least recoup from the 12 percent drop in application volume for August, but we may also see a possible increase in application activity. There are a few market indicators that point towards September as a high-activity month: Many travelers who decided to extend their summer contracts will be looking for either a quick contract between fall and winter or they will already be planning for the winter months. Hospitals are continuing to push for more temporary staffing to bulk up for flu season. The great “snowbird” migration will start to ramp up this month. Travelers who moved north for cooler summer temperatures will head back south for the winter. Conversely, travelers who don’t mind the cold will head north to fill gaps left by summer travelers. If you didn’t catch it, the recurring theme here is winter. Late November through February are incredibly busy times for general healthcare facilities, so most hospitals, recruiters and travelers have already begun planning three months ahead. We already saw a few examples of the winter job swell in the past two weeks. Facilities in East Texas have been hiring medical-surgical nurses en masse, and one of the largest hospitals in St. Louis plans to bring in more than 200 travelers in the next two months. Unsurprisingly, both of these locations are in southern states where flu activity peaks early and stays high throughout the winter. Expect to see more facilities in Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana and Arkansas heavily recruiting in the next few weeks. While we can’t say for sure September will be the busiest month of the year for job hunting, we can guarantee travelers have a much wider range of options to find a contract right now that fits their needs. Let’s see what we learned from August’s top markets. State rankings show a gradual winter shift The StaffDNA state rankings list didn’t change much overall from July to August, but it did provide early hints to where travelers may be looking for the late fall and winter. Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada continued to gain ground and now sit comfortably in the top 20 most applied-to states. Arizona also held a spot in the top 10, dropping only two spots to No. 8. Kentucky, South Carolina enter the Top 10 Kentucky just barely jumped into the top 10 most applied-to states for August, bumping Virginia down to No. 11. South Carolina made the largest shift, moving seven spots from No. 13 to the sixth place slot. We expect the state to remain popular in September, as there are many high-paying opportunities on the StaffDNA job boards in the state, especially for rad techs and OR, ER, ICU and PACU nurses. August’s Top Markets Florida California Texas North Carolina Tennessee South Carolina Pennsylvania Arizona Georgia Kentucky Virginia Indiana Missouri Oklahoma Arkansas Wisconsin Michigan Iowa Idaho Maine New Mexico Nevada Oregon West Virgina Colorado Ohio Hawaii Washington New Jersey Illinois Massachusets Alabama Minnesota Utah Maryland Louisiana New Hampshire Vermont Arkansas Montana New York South Dakota Connecticut Kansas Mississippi Nebraska Washington D.C. Wyoming North Dakota Rhode Island Delaware
Travel Jobs: Where Travelers Applied in July, Expectations for August
Expectations were high for July to be a very active month on the StaffDNA job boards after a sharp jump in application volume in June, and travelers did not disappoint. The volume of applications increased by almost 20 percent, making it the second month in a row with a significant increase in job board activity. This positive trend can be linked to several factors: August is a historically busy month for hospitals in the U.S., but especially for pediatric facilities. Most school districts in the U.S. start the school year in mid- to late August, so parents are likely to bring their children in for a check-up or to update their immunizations. Experienced travelers who took off in the summer were on the hunt for fall assignments. “Snowbirds” who headed back to northern states during the summer are looking to migrate down south for the winter. Job volume kept up with traveler demand. Needs for skilled labor and delivery and OR professionals ramped up in late-June, and less popular summer vacation states were offering competitive pay packages. Travel Healthcare Jobs August 2018 We don’t expect to see another dramatic jump in job board activity for August, but we do expect hospitals will already start recruiting for winter travelers late in the month. “[Pediatrics], ICU, step down, [telemetry]—you’ll see hospitals start to book in September,” a LiquidAgents Healthcare source told HCT Today. “Hospitals that are budgeting and planning early are already putting out January needs.” A quick look at the StaffDNA job board shows several new positions posted within the last two weeks that have scheduled start dates in December. Let’s take a closer look at what we learned from July’s top markets. State ranks are starting to shake up June saw almost no major movement among the ranks of states where travelers applied to the most, but July showed hints of the upcoming seasonal shift, with more Southern states holding or moving up the list. Since August is a transitional month for the traveler job market, we expect to see much more dramatic shifting trends in where travelers apply for jobs. September may prove to be even more volatile, as travelers who got contract extensions through August will start actively seeking jobs. Arizona and Tennessee enter the Top 10 After a month out of the big leagues, Arizona jumped 10 ranks back up to the No. 6 spot of the top 10 most applied-to states. Tennessee also re-entered the top ranks at No. 7. Tennessee seems to be a fairly popular state year-round, but as we’ve seen Arizona is much more prone to seasonal changes. We may see it hop around the ranks in August and September, but we expect it and New Mexico to be very popular with travelers in the winter months. Massachusetts makes the biggest jump, Illinois falls the farthest Illinois dropped 14 ranks, from the edge of the top 10 at No. 11 to middle of the pack at No. 25. Meanwhile, Massachusetts regained most of the ground it lost in June, moving up 12 ranks from No. 41 to No. 29. The drop for Illinois is expected—the northern state enjoys more popularity in the spring, but travelers may be looking to get out before the winter season hits. The state experiences five severe winter storms on average between November and April, according to information from the state’s climatologist office. Massachusetts frequently hangs around the middle of the pack for total applications, so we expect it to mostly maintain its rank during the coming months. July’s Top Markets California Florida Texas North Carolina Georgia Arizona Pennsylvania Tennessee Michigan Virginia Wisconsin Arkansas South Carolina Kentucky Missouri Nevada Iowa Indiana Maine Oklahoma West Virginia New Mexico Oregon Indiana Illinois Colorado Ohio Hawaii Massachusetts Alabama Washington New York Minnesota Maryland Louisiana Montana New Jersey Kansas Mississippi Alaska Wyoming Nebraska Utah Connecticut District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) South Dakota Vermont North Dakota New Hampshire Rhode Island Delaware