Factors that are contributing to the strong demand for health care workers include the need to replace workers who leave the industry, the rapidly aging population that requires more health care, growth in insurance coverage enabling people to purchase the care they need, and technological advances in patient care permitting more medical problems to be treated. Factors that will cut into the demand for workers and create or sustain keen competition in educational programs in the field include consolidation in the health service industries, cost-cutting measures, and new health care legislation. As hospitals consolidate to control costs, and shift from inpatient to outpatient care, demand for health services will shift to settings other than hospitals. The major components of the local health services field are hospitals, nursing facilities and doctors offices. From 1990 to 1998, the area's health care wages rose 2.7 percent after adjusting for inflation.
Average wages paid by employers in the field depend to a large extent on their occupational mix.
Also, larger employers generally pay higher wages for a given occupation than smaller employers. For example, nurses working in hospitals tend to earn more than those working in offices of physicians. A job seeker identifies a viable industry, learns about it, and conducts a focused job search. Some resources available to workers seeking employment in health services and related industries are listed in the left column. The print version of this guide is available in Adobe PDF format .