The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a national leader in finance, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and retailing.
Medical devices, electronics and processed foods are strong suits recognized globally.
Want the freshest data delivered by email? Subscribe to our regional newsletters.
6/14/2023 9:00:00 AM
Tim O'Neill
If you're looking for work in a high-demand field, look no further than healthcare. According to DEED's Job Vacancy Survey (JVS), employers in the Twin Cities metro area reported over 25,400 job vacancies in Health Care & Social Assistance in 2022. This accounted for over one-quarter (25.9%) of the region's total job vacancies at that time. While slightly down from its peak number of job vacancies in 2021, the number of job vacancies in Health Care & Social Assistance is up by more than 75% from 2017, showing extreme demand.
It should be noted that Health Care & Social Assistance includes a wide variety of occupations. Of course, there is high demand for Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Nursing Assistants, and other healthcare occupations. But there is also high demand for Office & Administrative Support, Community & Social Service, Management, Personal Care & Service, Food Preparation & Serving occupations, and more. The entry points into Health Care & Social Assistance, as well as the educational and career pathways available, are countless.
Beyond industries, which are comprised of a variety of different types of occupations, DEED's JVS data also allows users to view specific occupations. Healthcare occupations are broken down into two distinct occupational groups: Healthcare Practitioners & Technical occupations and Healthcare Support occupations. Together, these two occupational groups accounted for just over 20,000 job vacancies in the Metro Area in 2022.
Though both involved in healthcare, these two groups are comprised of very different occupations. For example, 84% of Healthcare Practitioners & Technical occupation job vacancies require post-secondary education, with an overall median wage offer of $29.63. In comparison, just 47% of Healthcare Support occupations require postsecondary education, with an overall median wage offer of $16.00 (Table 1).
| Table 1. Metro Area Healthcare Job Vacancies, 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational Title | Number of Job Vacancies | Job Vacancy Rate | Median Wage Offer | Part Time Share | Req. Post-Secondary Education | Req. Work Experience |
| Total, All Occupations | 98,330 | 6.0 | $19.96 | 36% | 38% | 16% |
| Healthcare Practitioners & Technical | 11,408 | 10.9 | $29.63 | 60% | 84% | 68% |
| Healthcare Support | 8,641 | 8.8 | $16.00 | 47% | 19% | 20% |
| Personal Care Aides | 3,744 | N/A | $14.98 | 46% | 2% | 11% |
| Registered Nurses | 3,444 | 8.8 | $33.69 | 68% | 99% | 76% |
| Nursing Assistants | 2,594 | 22.8 | $16.99 | 55% | 31% | 22% |
| Licensed Practical & Vocational Nurses | 1,553 | 23.1 | $25.01 | 66% | 100% | 51% |
| Pharmacy Technicians | 1,060 | 25.9 | $20.51 | 70% | 2% | 35% |
| Home Health Aides | 715 | N/A | $15.75 | 31% | 10% | 10% |
| Medical Assistants | 678 | 10.4 | $19.32 | 53% | 40% | 60% |
| Pharmacists | 509 | 13.6 | $38.41 | 64% | 100% | 83% |
| Veterinary Technologists & Technicians | 473 | 21.5 | $21.49 | 31% | 85% | 63% |
| Clinical Laboratory Technologists | 432 | 10.7 | $25.76 | 61% | 67% | 87% |
| Source: DEED Job Vacancy Survey | ||||||
As previously mentioned, those healthcare occupations with the most job vacancies in the Metro Area include Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, and Nursing Assistants. Altogether, these three occupations accounted for nearly 9,800 job vacancies in 2022, or nearly half of all the job vacancies between Healthcare Practitioners & Technical and Healthcare Support occupations. Other occupations with a lot of job vacancies in these two groups include: Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses, Pharmacy Technicians, Home Health Aides, Medical Assistants, Pharmacists, Veterinary Technologists & Technicians, and Clinical Laboratory Technologists & Technicians.
Analyzing JVS data, it's easy to only look at the number of job vacancies reported. The job vacancy rate, however, reveals a more complete picture of hiring demand. Essentially, the job vacancy rate is the percent of job vacancies relative to all filled jobs in the occupation. A high vacancy rate indicates a relatively strong demand for a particular occupation. A job vacancy rate is considered high if it's above the job vacancy rate for all occupations.
In the Metro Area in 2022, the job vacancy rate for all occupations was 6.0%. Those healthcare occupations with very high job vacancy rates includes: Pharmacy Aides, Radiologists, Neurologists, Dietetic Technicians, Massage Therapists, Pharmacy Technicians, Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Ophthalmologists, Veterinary Technologists & Technicians, Emergency Medical Technicians, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists. Each of these occupations had a job vacancy rate of over 20%. In sum, there were nearly 50 healthcare occupations with a high job vacancy rate of over 6.0%.
In the end, the data from DEED's JVS is clear – the demand for workers in Health Care & Social Assistance is high. This is also true for those specific occupations within Healthcare Practitioners & Technical occupations and Healthcare Support occupations.
Contact Tim O'Neill, Labor Market Analyst, at timothy.oneill@state.mn.us.
June is the kick off for the Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career campaign, including a proclamation from the Governor explaining the benefits of working in Health Care & Social Assistance. DEED's Regional Analysts put together a series of blogs focused on Health Care employment and opportunities in all 6 planning regions:
Central | Northeast | Northwest | Southeast | Southwest
As detailed in previous articles, the Health Care & Social Assistance industry has been under stress since the pandemic, but remains a great long-term career opportunity as it is projected to be the largest growing industry over the next decade. The goal of the Caring Careers campaign is to help jobseekers find their fit in health care employment that makes a real difference in the lives of others. Jobseekers that are interested can begin an in-demand career path with great growth potential and no training beyond high school required to start in many positions. Employers even pay for initial training in many cases – and they may also pay for future training to help workers grow their career and earn more money. Many employers also welcome employees who are learning English.
