Health care creates unique opportunities for a changing U.S. workforce.

More Americans are returning to work and picking up second jobs. For health care organizations who lost professionals during COVID and who still face vacancy and turnover challenges this presents an opportunity not only to attract licensed professionals back to the workforce but also to think creatively about scheduling and retention strategies.

While vacancy and turnover rates have improved since COVID, many health care employers still have room to improve. The Florida Hospital Association reported that nurse vacancies were down to 7.8% and turnovers were down to 17.6% in 2024 after peaking during COVID at 21% and 32%, respectively.

But some of that workforce may be ready to return. The number of people who are not working but who are actively looking for jobs has increased from 6,259,000 million in May 2024 to 6,567,000 in May of 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported an uptick in the number of Americans working side jobs, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a higher percentage of Americans working two jobs since the Great Recession of 2009. The overall percentage of workers who hold two jobs is now at 5.2%.

With the increases in people returning to the workforce and in people picking up second jobs, health care talent acquisition teams should think creatively about how they can lure licensed professionals back to the workforce, how to create schedules and compensation that appeal to returning professionals and to current employees who need more hours, how to build culture that helps nurses and other licensed professionals remember the reason they chose health care in the first place.

As these workforce trends evolve, STATCheck is working to make better matches between professionals and employers. When professionals create profiles on STATCheck, not only do they share their unique skills and experience but they can also specify the schedules they want. Using this personalized data enables us to make better matches between professionals and employers, meaning we’re doing our part to help lower those vacancy and turnover rates even further.

Curious about what opportunities you might find? See what’s available here.