Recruitment & Retention Trends

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

The challenge of recruiting Caregivers has been a hot button topic in home care for a long time now. Panels of experts have discussed it at trade shows across the country and countless articles have been penned to raise awareness of the Caregiver Crisis. With the release of the 2018 Home Care Benchmarking Study from Home Care Pulse, we can again see that the Caregiver shortage is the #1 threat to home care businesses. Agencies across the country are dealing with the difficulties of Caregiver recruitment, as they devote more and more resources to finding new staff. This impacts agencies in a lot of different ways. One of the biggest and most overlooked ways is cost. Did you know the cost to recruit a single Caregiver has gone up 63% over the past two years?

“What can my agency do to stand out when recruiting Caregivers?” This is the million dollar question, and providers across the country are asking it daily. Every agency is looking for ways to offer more than the other employer down the street in an effort to lure top talent. It’s no easy task, as there are more competitors in Caregiver recruitment now than ever before as retail, fast food, and other industries are targeting the direct care workforce with lower barriers to entry. But there is a way to make joining your agency’s workforce easy while offering something less than half of your competitors currently do. Only 45% of Caregivers report their current or past employer paid for the necessary CPR training before beginning work. If you want to come out ahead in your Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment, be the agency who offers this to their staff.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

It’s no secret matching schedules with Caregivers is a major challenge in home care recruitment. Whether you have a new hire with limited availability or a top performer who feels they aren’t getting enough work, the effects of available hours on Caregiver recruitment are profound. Due to the unpredictable nature of home care, many agencies only offer part time hours, or if they have full-time positions for Caregivers they are in limited quantity. The latest research shows 35% of Caregivers are only interested in full-time hours. Think about this in terms of your market size. If you are hiring Caregivers and there are 1,000 potential candidates in your service area and your agency is hiring for part time positions only, that number instantly drops down to 650.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

A recent article from The New York Times about online retail fulfillment centers sheds light on an ever-growing threat to home care recruitment. The piece - which details the rise of distribution warehouses for companies like Amazon, Walmart, Zulily, and more - shows how new competitors will continue to make recruiting Caregivers and CNAs a battle.

There’s a lot to be said about the high demand of Caregivers and CNAs in home care recruitment today. It’s something that can be anecdotally observed; recruiting is harder now than it was three, five, or ten years ago. It can also be seen through more objective observations. For example, the rising number of Americans needing care far outpacing new people entering the Caregiving field. One piece of data that really strikes a chord with any agency hiring Caregivers is just how often a Caregiver’s phone rings. The latest research shows that for the second year in a row, Caregivers continue to receive 3+ calls a week for work on average. For anybody recruiting in home care, this statistic can be worrisome.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

I get asked a lot of questions about the interview portion of the Nurse Aide recruitment process. It’s an important piece of the puzzle and can make or break your ability to hire Caregivers. As is true with all human interaction, first impressions matter. This is especially true during an interview, since often times it’s the first chance a Caregiver has to visit your agency’s office and meet the staff. The latest research on recruiting Nurse Aides shows the importance of making a Caregiver feel comfortable during the interview. In fact, 28% of all Caregivers report the most important part of the interview is if they feel comfortable while they’re there.

We recently held a webinar series joining together our Caregiver recruitment trends alongside trends from the home care sales experts at Powershot Training. For many home care owners we spoke with, these trends covered the two biggest areas of focus for their business. With recruiting Caregivers being the number one reported threat to business growth year in and year out, and growing sales being necessary to scale the business, there were many key areas covered. One question often asked to the experts was “How do I balance my CNA recruiting efforts and my efforts to gain new clients?”

Recruiting CNAs and Caregivers is more expensive than ever before. Stiffer competition has led to increased sourcing costs, while the time it takes to recruit Caregivers continues to grow, raising operational costs. Home care agencies across the country are committing more resources to their Caregiver and CNA recruitment, but few are taking advantage of the best way to get some of that money back. What would your business do with an extra $50,000 each year?

In any industry, not just Caregiver recruitment, good leaders learn from others. Finding proven strategies from other organizations and implementing them when recruiting Caregivers can instantly inject new life into your business. Sometimes, it can be hard to find time to sift through the noise to find the best ideas available. Even harder can be finding examples outside of home care recruiting. We’ve found five brands from other industries who are winning at five different aspects of recruitment: Offering, experience, processing, brand, and talent creation. Each of these has valuable insights to be gained that can help improve your current Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment.

Out of all the different steps in the Caregiver and CNA recruitment process, it may be most difficult to lose a candidate at the end. Having a qualified candidate who comes in for an interview, seems to be a great fit, then never makes it to their first case can be disheartening. With each new step in the recruitment process some candidates are bound to drop off, but losing those who have made it through to the end is the most devastating - and the most preventable. Did you know 24% of Caregivers report companies do a poor job of communicating the next step in the hiring process after the interview? Here are a few common areas where better communication when recruiting CNAs can lead to more hires.

Home care recruitment is facing threats from other industries now more than ever before. Fast food and retail, among others, are actively targeting the direct care workforce. Many of these jobs boast higher pay or better benefits, but new research shows the biggest threat these industries pose to Caregiver and CNA recruitment: 80% of Caregivers prefer to work for one company if they can get the hours they want. They also report it’s easier to get desired hours in retail and fast food. Recruiting in home care has always been challenged by the fact that guaranteeing hours is more difficult than in other industries. This new data shows the impact those challenges are having on the industry.

Home care recruiting is facing challenges today that it never had to worry about in the past. Increased competition from other industries is putting additional strain on an already thin labor pool. Agencies are finding ways to be more accommodating to potential Caregivers in an effort to keep them in the industry. An interesting new piece of data shows one area that could help agencies sell their positions when recruiting for home care. 35% of all Caregivers are only interested in full-time work, and 27% of all Caregivers are only interested in part-time work. What does this mean for your current Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment and how can you use it to boost hires moving forward?

You’ve just finished arguably the most important part of the Caregiver and CNA recruitment process, the interview. A lovely candidate came in and you’re thrilled about the prospect of them joining your team. They appear to be a great fit and are excited to start work with you. The second they walk out the door, the clock starts. We’ve talked about processing times on this blog before (see: Home Care Recruitment Processing Times: Why Caregivers Aren’t Making it to Cases), but new data sheds additional light on the need for a quick turnaround after an interview in order be successful when recruiting CNAs and Caregivers. We asked Caregivers how long they wait after an interview before interviewing with another company. Their answers are below.

There’s a nationwide shortage of qualified Caregivers, and it’s even more challenging if you’re hiring CNAs. The cold hard reality is there’s just not enough of them to go around. Whether your agency is only allowed to hire CNAs, or if you need a mix of both certified and uncertified Caregivers, chances are it’s difficult to make enough new CNA hires to staff cases. As providers adapt to the growing gap between supply and demand, the most successful way to make CNA hires is to create new CNAs altogether. The latest research shows 80% of uncertified Caregivers would get a CNA certificate if their employer paid for it.

“What can my agency do to stand out when recruiting Caregivers?” This is the million dollar question, and providers across the country are asking it daily. Every agency is looking for ways to offer more than the other employer down the street in an effort to lure top talent. It’s no easy task, as there are more competitors in Caregiver recruitment now than ever before as retail, fast food, and other industries are targeting the direct care workforce with lower barriers to entry. But there is a way to make joining your agency’s workforce easy while offering something only a third of your competitors currently do. Only 45% of Caregivers with CPR certification report their current or past employer paid for this necessary certification before beginning work. If you want to come out ahead in your Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment, be the agency who offers this to their staff.

Caregiver and CNA recruitment is always a challenge, but the calendar provides particular ups and downs along the way. The holiday season, for example, often proves to be a tough time to hire Caregivers, with agencies struggling to meet their needs from Thanksgiving through the New Year. On the flipside, many agencies find summertime to be an easier season to recruit CNAs and Caregivers to fill their open shifts. Another dip looms just around the corner for agencies across the country, for soon approaches the only time Americans are happy to receive mail from the IRS - tax refund season.

For several years now we’ve been hearing the same warning echoed throughout every corner of home care recruitment: “There aren't enough Caregivers and CNAs to go around.” Agencies are aware of this fact, and now they’re looking for ways to work through it. As we talked about in our previous post Caregiver Recruitment - Could Your Market be Bigger Than You Think?,  opening your current market can be a way to instantly make more Caregiver hires. The 2018 research continues to support this. For example, only 44% of Caregivers report having an active CPR certificate, yet it’s still one of the most commonly listed job requirements used when recruiting in home care today.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

As new continue to collect data on Recruiting CNAs and Caregivers, it’s becoming more and more clear the role that an agency’s brand reputation plays on their ability to hire Caregivers. We gave an overview of different types of brands in our previous post A Competitive Brand Will Drive Recruitment Performance: Where Does Your Agency Rank?. In this post we’ll dive deeper into what it means for Caregivers to recognize your brand at all. The latest research shows 19% of Caregivers won’t call a recruiter back if they’ve never heard of the agency before.

On December 20th, 2017 Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with a very important outcome for home care recruitment. With many changes being made to the tax code, the most important outcome for recruiting in home care may not have been a change at all, but the absence of change for one very important program. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC, is preserved under this new law, remaining active for employers to utilize today. So what is WOTC and what does it mean for you?

Home care recruitment has never been more challenging, time consuming, and expensive. Caregivers are receiving more calls for work, more job offers, more hours, more pay, and more benefits than ever before. Over 50% of home care agencies identify the ability to recruit Caregivers and CNAs as the number one threat to business growth. It’s projected the market will continue to worsen as agencies fight for talent alongside other industries attracting caregivers including fast food, retail, and distribution center giants.

In today’s market, pay and benefits play a large role in an agency’s success when recruiting Caregivers. Those who have more to offer are rising to the top of their market. Many agencies are re-examining their employment package to find ways they can be more competitive in their caregiver recruitment offers. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were more important to them in a head-to-head style matchup so you can make more informed decisions about where to spend your dollar to continue hiring Caregivers and grow your business. In our last matchup, Battle of the Benefits: Does a Higher Wage or Preferred Hours Mean More When Recruiting Caregivers?, a higher wage prevailed as more desired. This time through, we’ll take a look at a 401k program versus paid vacation time.

In the current landscape of recruiting Caregivers, pay and benefits play a huge role in your success. Agencies with the most attractive packages are winning out in the war for Caregiver talent. In order to continue to grow their businesses, agencies across the country are raising pay and adding benefits so they can scale their Caregiver recruitment. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were most important to them in a head-to-head matchup so you can spend your dollars where they will have the biggest impact on your Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment. In our last installment, Battle of the Benefits: Does Paid Sick time or Paid Training Matter More When Recruiting Caregivers?, paid sick time just barely eeked out a victory. This time through we’ll take a look at a earning a higher wage versus getting their preferred hours/shifts.

More than ever, recruiting Caregivers relies on a backbone of competitive pay and benefits. Without an attractive offer, other competitors are going to win out in the war for talent. In order to have successful Caregiver recruitment efforts, agencies across the country are taking a new look at their pay and benefits to find places where they can improve their offering. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were most important to them in a head-to-head matchup so you can know where to invest your Caregiver recruiting dollars to get the best return. Our last installment Battle of the Benefits: Does Health Insurance or Paid Vacation Time Matter More When Recruiting Caregivers?, health insurance was a more desirable benefit. Now we’ll take a look at paid sick time versus paid training to see which one Caregivers said was more important.

The need for competitive pay and benefits when recruiting Caregivers has never been higher. As Caregivers and CNAs become more and more in demand, agencies with offerings that are lagging behind aren’t able to make the hires they need to grow their business. Caregiver recruitment is a pivotal piece of any successful home care agency, and agencies are finding ways to offer more to Caregivers in an effort to be more competitive in their area. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were more important in a head-to-head style matchup so you can make more informed decisions on where to spend your dollar for the biggest impact on your ability to hire Caregivers. In our last installment, Battle of the Benefits: Does a 401k Program or Paid Vacation Mean More When Recruiting Caregivers?, 401k program took a decisive victory. This time we’ll examine direct deposit versus weekly pay to see which is more important to Caregivers and CNAs.

Today, recruiting Caregivers and CNAs is about offering competitive pay and benefits more than ever before. With more and more companies all hiring from the same limited workforce, the ones with the most attractive offers are coming out on top. Across the country agencies are working to improve their employment packages, but are unsure which areas will give the greatest impact on Caregiver recruitment for their dollar. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were most important to them in a head-to-head matchup so you can make more informed decisions on where to get the most bang for your buck in improving your Caregiver and CNA recruitment. In our last installment, Battle of Benefits: Does Health Insurance Or A Higher Wage Mean More When Recruiting Caregivers? a higher wage was the clear favorite. This time, we’ll take that same health insurance benefit and compare it side by side with paid vacation time:

We talk a lot on this blog about evaluating other competitors in your market (see Recruiting Caregivers: #1 Strategy to Learn What Your Competitors are Offering, for example) and how those competitors affect home care recruitment. Fast food and retail are examples we often use of outside competitors to keep an eye on. For many agencies there’s another big competitor lurking in the shadows, and they’re targeting your Caregivers. The newest research shows 10% of Caregivers have worked for or interviewed at Amazon.

Home care agencies are gearing up for the increased Caregiver Recruitment competition nationwide, and a major area of improvement is Caregiver and CNA training. With 44% of workers citing a lack of training as a reason they left their last job, revamped programs are a necessity not only for recruiting Caregivers, but for retaining them as well.

Recruiting Caregivers and CNAs is more about pay and benefits than ever before. With so many companies looking to hire a limited workforce, those with the most attractive offers are winning out. Many agencies are improving their current offering, but are unsure where to make investments to bring the most bang for their buck. We asked Caregivers and CNAs which benefits were most important to them in a head-to-head matchup so you can make smarter decisions about where to place your dollar to improve your Caregiver recruitment. First up on the Battle of the Benefits - a higher wage vs. health insurance.

We’re midway through January and the number one question we’re hearing is “what should I do to ramp caregiver recruitment in 2018?” This is the year of getting competitive. However, your investment to get competitive should be centered around your current position in the local market and your business strategy. In an analysis of thousands of companies, we’ve built five classifications from the perspective of a Caregiver to help executives determine where they fit and may be headed (this is an excerpt from It’s Time To Compete White Paper)

If you have had a discussion about Caregiver and CNA recruiting lately, the topic of pay has likely come up. Across the country, home care recruiting has become a competition for top talent, and offering competitive pay is a necessity to survive. In a recent post Caregiver Recruitment: The Importance of Tracking Caregiver and CNA Pay we talked about how pay has risen across the country, but what are Caregivers looking to make in your state? We’ve compiled a list of state averages for both certified and uncertified Caregivers - an invaluable piece of data for any agency currently hiring Caregivers.

The interview is a pivotal piece of the Caregiver recruitment process. It not only helps agencies understand if a candidate is a good fit, but it also helps Caregivers understand if that particular agency will be right for them. In our previous post Recruiting Caregivers: How To Make 87% Of Interviewees More Interested In Working For You we looked at what to do during an interview. The latest research in home care recruitment shows it’s also important to consider the frame of the interview itself - namely the length. 14% of Caregivers report not being interested in working for a company if they feel the interview is too short or too long.

In CNA and Caregiver recruitment, pay has always been an important part of the equation. It’s unrealistic to expect widespread interest from Caregivers if your pay is below that of your competitors. Tracking down what others in your market are offering and what Caregivers near you are looking to make has long been a challenge for agencies hiring CNAs and Caregivers. And while the importance of pay can’t be overstated when recruiting Caregivers, neither can the importance of proper data on pay.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

2018 is here and the year of competition for home care recruitment is upon us. Home care agencies across the country are re-examining their employment offering to attract more candidates and hire Caregivers and CNAs more effectively. The latest research on job search for Caregivers highlights the necessity for a revamped employment package. Did you know 30% of Caregivers search for jobs while at work? Let’s break down this stat into the two usual departments: Caregiver recruitment and Caregiver retention.

When working with home care agencies across the country to improve Caregiver recruitment, one of the common struggles we hear is “I can’t keep enough caregivers on staff to fill cases.” It should come as no surprise that many Caregivers are actively interviewing with other companies. The latest research shows 32% of Caregivers interview at another company every month. This piece of data is worrisome for home care providers. How can you keep your turnover low when over a third of your workforce is shopping for new positions? How can you use this information to your advantage when recruiting Caregivers and CNAs?

Caregiver recruitment has never been more challenging, time consuming, and expensive. Caregivers are receiving more calls for work, more job offers, more hours, more pay, and more benefits than ever before. For our latest Caregiver Trend Report - we've collected data from 100k+ Caregivers, tapping into the minds of job seekers nationwide to deliver new insights to transform recruitment strategies in 2018. Executives understand the war for Caregiver talent is here. Now, it’s time to act. Companies that don’t compete, won’t survive. 

2018 is almost here, but before we clink glasses and ring in the new year, it’s important to reflect on what happened in 2017. Assessing your Caregiver Recruitment will help you make informed decisions about future recruitment efforts as the market continues to get more gnarly. We've laid out some steps for you to take in order to reflect below:

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

As the year begins winding down and we look ahead to home care recruitment in 2018, there are a number of new wage laws going into effect, include minimum wage increases in many states. Across the industry we’ve seen Caregiver pay rising even without pressure from local or state mandates. However, when minimum wage rises closer to that of the starting wage for CNAs, we see other industries poaching those care workers at a higher rate and agencies having a harder time hiring Caregivers.

Across the country we’re seeing agencies fight to stay competitive when recruiting caregivers and CNAs. Any leg up they can have on their competitors is going to drive more hires. So what does a Home Care Commission in Oregon have to do with hiring Caregivers at your agency?

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

As agencies continue to find new ways to recruit Caregivers and CNAs, local community ties are becoming more and more utilized. Going to local schools, church groups, or community events are becoming favorite ways to expand Caregiver recruitment efforts. While having a presence in these areas is a great way to expand your market like we discussed in “Caregiver Recruitment - Could Your Market be Bigger Than You Think?,” holding interviews on the spot can improve your results.

We talked in our previous post Tips For Using Local Schools To Boost CNA Recruitment on how to utilize local schools to help you recruit CNAs. Now that the holidays are upon us and there are 56% less job seekers on the market, there’s no better time to add a new weapon to the Caregiver recruitment arsenal! Offer to throw a holiday party for the students of a local CNA school.

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Dallas, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Caregiver recruitment in the greater Dallas area.

Home care is a stressful business and home care recruitment is a stressful task, but a new study by the Stanford Center on Longevity and the Stanford University Psychology Department weighs the mental toll on Caregivers. This study, in cooperation with Comfort Keepers and ClearCare, examines familial Caregivers and their mental well-being. Many agencies help familial Caregivers get reimbursement for taking care of loved ones, and even for agencies who don’t operate that way today, the study provides some interesting takeaways for CNA recruitment and retention.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater Indianapolis area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

One of the most important things for agencies to do when it comes to home care recruitment is to make sure they use a variety of recruiting channels. Online job boards, employee referrals, career fairs, and more are all examples of different channels to recruit CNAs with. One channel we see not being used enough is local CNA programs. We’ve outlined a few ways to get you started in forming these partnerships for recruiting CNAs.

Getting a Caregiver to choose your agency over a competitor is the crux of Caregiver recruitment today. So what do 60% of Caregivers report as being “very important” when deciding where to work? A personal connection with the person interviewing them. You can check out their responses below:

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Washington DC, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Caregiver recruitment in the greater DC and Northern Virginia area.

At myCNAjobs we work with thousands of companies in the space to overcome the challenges of Caregiver recruitment. This gives our staff a unique vantage point to the industry. With this front row seat we’re able to see what’s going on across the country in home care recruitment. We can see who’s winning, who’s not - and most importantly - why?

To be successful when recruiting Caregivers you need to be able to sell your agency to your candidates. What if you’re not the only one who should be selling, though? Our research shows 87% of Caregivers would be more interested in working for your agency if they had a chance meet and interact with current members of the Caregiving staff.

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Minneapolis, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Minneapolis Caregiver recruitment.

Everywhere you look you’ll find a mobile device in someone’s hand. No matter your personal views on the matter, it’s an important shift for Caregiver Recruitment. Did you know that 80% of Caregivers are now looking for work on a mobile device? That means if your online presence isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re deterring candidates before they even apply.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater Dallas and Fort Worth area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

As the CNA recruitment market gets more competitive, Caregivers are able to pick and choose where they want to work. We’ve seen Caregivers vet companies who are hiring CNAs in a variety of ways. Every agency that is actively recruiting CNAs and Caregivers should be aware of the top channels Caregivers use to evaluate them:

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring STNAs in Columbus, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Columbus caregiver recruitment.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater Boston area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights: 

We talked about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC, in our previous post Hidden Tax Credits for Caregivers: How Caregivers & CNAs Could be Worth Even More to Your Business. If you don’t currently file for WOTC, you could be leaving cash on the table. How can this credit be a part of your Caregiver recruitment process to open an extra revenue stream for your business?

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Indianapolis, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Indianapolis Caregiver recruitment.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater DC and Northern Virginia area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

“I get calls at 5am from Caregivers with all kinds of reasons for why they can’t come to work. I also get the calls from clients and family members when a caregiver just decides to not show up at all.”

Donna is the Office Manager for a medium sized home care agency in rural Ohio. She’s the one who deals with all the unplanned caregiver absences.

“I get two to three call-outs a week—sometimes more, sometimes less,” reports Donna.  “Each time, it’s a mad scramble to figure out the replacement. Most of the time, it takes two to three hours to find a replacement and get them to the client’s location.  Sometimes, there is no replacement available at all.”

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater Columbus area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Boston, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Boston caregiver recruitment

Every step of Caregiver recruitment comes with it’s own challenges, and the interview process is no different. 44% of Caregivers report they would turn down a job offer if they didn’t feel the interview went well. But that raises the question, what do Caregivers look for in an interview? We asked them, and it comes down to these “Critical 8” things to focus on when interviewing and hiring Caregivers.

A more analytical approach to recruiting Caregivers is helping agencies across the country have success as hiring CNAs and caregivers gets more competitive. There is of course one big factor necessary to be successful with data driven recruitment - the data. We’ve seen a big piece of the puzzle missing for home care agencies. While most agencies are focused heavily on Caregiver recruitment and retention, few understand why Caregivers are choosing to opt for employment someplace else. What makes them choose your competitor over you?

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in the greater Minneapolis area. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

As we covered in an earlier post, Recruiting Caregivers: #1 Strategy to Learn What Your Competitors are Offering, your competition isn’t just other home care agencies. Other industries are hiring Caregivers, pulling them out of your labor pool and into theirs. Target’s recent announcement to raise minimum wage to $11/hr nationwide with a commitment to $15/hr by the end of 2020 continues this trend. This pay boost also applies to the more than 100,000 seasonal employees they’ll add this holiday season.

At myCNAjobs we work with home care agencies to improve Caregiver recruitment all across the country. When an agency calls us up for help hiring CNAs, one of the first things I often hear is “We’re not able to hit our hiring goals.” We see agencies struggling to scale recruitment from the handful of hires they’re currently making to the number of hires they need to grow their business. How can you break through that plateau and find ways to grow your recruitment? We outline the full process in our industry white paper Scaling Caregiver Recruitment Through Cost Per Hire.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies Hiring Caregivers in Houston. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

When I work with agencies across the country to combat caregiver and CNA recruitment challenges, often times we take a look at caregiver cost per hire. Many people I speak with are surprised to learn that the most expensive part of their recruitment efforts isn’t advertisement or background checks. It’s time.

As a Senior Director here at myCNAjobs I have the pleasure of talking with agency owners and recruiters from all across the country. One of the biggest questions I hear is “What do you see happening in my market?” While there are trends and challenges that spread nationwide, it is true that each market is unique. While doing a webinar on Hiring CNAs in Chicago, I picked out a few interesting pieces of information on Chicago Caregiver recruitment.

In a previous post we discussed the tenants of a successful employee referral program as part of a CNA recruitment strategy. Things like keeping the program simple and immediacy of payment lead to better results. Recently I’ve been asked about some of my favorite referral programs I’ve seen for agencies hiring Caregivers and CNAs, and below are a few my team and I have encountered.

The biggest challenge I hear from agencies about Caregiver recruitment is trying to find the “right” Caregiver. Often times when I ask what the right Caregiver or CNA looks like, I’m met with a laundry list of things the agency would like a Caregiver to be. Things like a CPR certification, 2+ years of experience, and having car insurance are common ones I hear. In an earlier post we covered how your market could be bigger than you think, and based on the feedback we got it seemed fitting to dive deeper into one of the ideas covered: Is a requirement a “nice to have” or a “need to have?”

With the announcement that the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, would be ending, many questions were raised about the state of the Caregiver recruitment landscape. It is currently unknown if any legislation will be introduced to replace DACA, or if it will simply be removed. Often referred to as “DREAMers,” surveys of these DACA beneficiaries show that one in five of the nearly 800,000 in the program work in the health care and education sectors. In a market where there already aren’t enough Caregivers, this could lead to an even bigger shortage in the near future.

With Caregivers becoming more and more in demand, we see them getting to pick and choose their opportunities. We know how important it is for them to be able to work close to their home, but travel time to the interview itself is another important factor. Less than ⅔ of Caregivers report they’re willing to travel more than 30 minutes to an interview. You can see the full breakdown below:

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies Hiring Caregivers in Northeast Ohio. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

In today’s market, candidates are in the driver’s seat when it comes to Caregiver recruitment. They’re often presented with so many opportunities, the have to make decisions about which ones they’re interested in moving forward with. There’s a number of factors they take into consideration when making this decision. We asked Caregivers if they have multiple job interviews scheduled and only have time to go to one, how would they decide which interview to go to. Here’s what they said:

You don’t have to look far to find someone in home care recruiting talking about the challenges of retaining Caregivers and CNAs. According to Home Care Pulse, the turnover rate in home care last year was over 63%. With a national shortage making hiring CNAs more difficult, it becomes all the more important to retain them as well. With this ever-changing market, what does a good retention strategy look like today?

Good Caregiver and CNA recruitment consists of multiple recruitment channels. One of the most popular channels across the country is referrals from current employees. Did you know that 74% of Caregivers and CNAs wouldn’t recommend their current employer to a friend? In the ongoing competition of Caregiver recruitment, every new hire counts! Here are a few tips to make sure your referral program is as effective as it can be!

A home care agency’s most valuable asset in today’s market is their Caregivers, and that’s only getting truer by the day. But what if hiring Caregivers and CNAs could mean even more to your business? The Workforce Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC, could make that possible through tax credits for Caregivers.

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in Nashville. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

One of the most frustrating things we hear from agencies recruiting in home care is the ongoing struggle to get new Caregivers onto cases. The process of going through dozens of applicants to try and find one good hire is draining on a recruiter, and when they fall off at the last minute it can take the wind out of your sails. Often times when examining an agency’s recruiting metrics, we see a lot of Caregivers who are offered a position never end up making it to a case. What causes that to happen? Our latest research shows processing times matter:

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring Caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring Caregivers in Chicago. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

A big part of our mission at myCNAjobs is to invest in attracting more potential candidates to the caregiving profession; growing the overall market from which to recruit Caregivers and CNAs. An important part of this is to figure out where people enter the industry from. Our data shows 37% of new Caregivers enter the industry from a job in retail or fast food. Check out the full picture below:  

One of the biggest pain points we hear every day is how difficult it is to retain top Caregiver and CNA talent. With candidates receiving 3+ calls a week for work - it can be tough to keep turnover numbers low. A great way to help reduce turnover while attracting new staff is to ensure your agency is remaining competitive in your offer to Caregivers. But how do you know what your competitors are offering Caregivers?

As agencies are challenged with finding enough quality Caregivers and CNAs to meet their goals and grow their business, the clear culprit is an overall Caregiver shortage of talent. If we take a closer look, the numbers get even more concerning. In our latest study, only 25% of Caregivers reported they want to work for an agency. Here’s the breakdown of where Caregivers told us they’re interested in working:

Home care is a highly local business. From community connections to meeting clients and even hiring caregivers, each market is unique. Recently we took a local look at interesting data and trends for agencies hiring caregivers in Charlotte. You can watch the full replay below, and here a few highlights:

In a market where Caregivers and CNAs are able to pick and choose which job opportunities are most interesting to them, it’s becoming more important for agencies to develop strategies to attract top talent. In our latest study, 64% of candidates report they’re always looking for a job, another 32% of candidates say they may not be looking for a job, but would entertain a new job offer - that means 96% of Caregivers are always on the job market.

When so much of the market is on the lookout for new opportunities, how can you get your agency’s openings in front of these candidates? How can you attract the attention of passive job seekers?

You’re curious, we’re curious, and so we just asked. We polled thousands of caregivers across the nation to ask how their pay ranks today versus a year ago. Thirty-six percent (36%) indicated earning more today. Here’s what they reported:

We hear it everyday. There are not enough Caregivers. I need more CNAs. I'm struggling with hiring Caregivers. What do I do? One of the first steps in our conversation is to stop and take a hard look at your requirements alongside market trends.

Every local market is unique extending unique challenges to business owners, recruiters, and executives. You could be in a rural market with low population, an urban setting with thousands of places to work, or a suburb that just opened an Amazon warehouse. Regardless of where you sit, we recommend assessing three core areas:

Recruiting and retaining caregivers is one of the biggest limiting factors to growing a home care agency and biggest frustrations plaguing senior living.  On a good note, you’re not alone. On a bad note, there’s no one silver bullet. It's a gnarly market problem. Everyday at myCNAjobs we have the privilege of talking with thousands of companies all battling it out to find the best caregivers.  We have a unique preview into the recruitment landscape, what's trending, what's working, and what's not.  Through this blog, we hope to bring you a look into our front-row seat into the market including things like: