The need for nurses has risen over the last year according to data provided by Workforce Windsor-Essex.
"We've seen 40-50 and 60 in some cases per month on our job board for the last 12 months, said Justin Falconer, CEO of Workforce Windsor-Essex."
On Sunday there were 27 active postings for nurses in our region with some offering a signing bonus. In Windsor-Essex, the demand for registered nurses doubled, and in some cases tripled, month over month last year. Community health centres had 86 registered nursing job postings. Nursing care facilities had a total of 74 postings.
"It really is sort of a broad mix," said Falconer.
"A board meeting earlier this year highlighted there were 140 vacancies before the pandemic. That number rose to 193 two years later, “That's a good thing so it hasn't gotten worse during COVID," said Karen Riddell, Windsor Regional’s Chief Nursing Executive. "When we look at the top three reasons for nurses leaving the profession they still are the same as they were three years ago."
With many nursing graduates feeding the province and U.S. hospital officials believe their current challenge is to maintain and grow the workforce.
"That becomes important as we're looking for strategies in Windsor-Essex on how we can sustain the workforce," said Riddell.
Health care postings lead the Workforce Windsor-Essex job board and John Fairley, VP of Communications at St. Clair College; see the enthusiasm for that industry in student registrations.
"It's all those service type industries that we've been celebrating as health care workers and frontline people," said John. "It hasn't scared anybody away. We've got more people interested in it."
Falconer says our region's unemployment rate rose for the first time in six months to 8.2 percent. He cites the recent shutdown as one of the major reasons for the rise. There are 22-hundred jobs currently available and Falconer says the percentage of people participating in the workforce is at a seven-year high of 65 percent.
"I think what's happening is people are looking for some additional income with inflation so high."
