Private healthcare businesses across the country are struggling to recruit staff as global worker shortages affect the domestic market.
The country’s largest retirement village operator, Ryman Healthcare, is the employer with the highest need.
It has 185 job listings on Trade Me, the most of any employer on the platform.
Ryman chief executive for New Zealand Cheyne Chalmers said the high demand for staff was being driven by domestic turnover, global worker shortages, and business growth.
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Ryman is building nine new villages in New Zealand, five in Auckland, two in Christchurch, and one each in Hamilton and Havelock North.
Each usually required around 150 employees to function. Ryman was also in the market for construction staff to build the villages, Chalmers said.
The sector was in a “record growth phase” as the baby boomer generation aged into villages, she said.
Research from Business and Economic Research (BERL) showed a need for New Zealand to build another 15,000 aged care beds by 2030 and another 24,500 retirement units by 2033.
Kathryn George/Stuff
Healthcare businesses are desperate for staff as global worker shortages hit the domestic market.
Chalmers said the business was confident it would have enough employees to staff the new developments.
The worker shortage in the retirement sector mirrored the situation in other aged care sectors
Stuff has previously reported that aged care nurses are working up to 16 hours in shifts and managers are sleeping on site for several nights a week amid critical staffing shortages.
A new report from BNZ highlighted the need for healthcare workers across the entire sector.
The survey covered 164 private healthcare providers, and found 75% of businesses were facing staffing shortages.
BNZ head of health Thom McKenzie said conditions were tough.
“This is a worldwide issue every country is struggling with. There is tremendous global demand for doctors, nurses, radiographers, administrators, and many other health sector roles,” McKenzie said.
The World Health Organisation estimated a shortfall of 15 million health workers globally by 2030, so the issue was not confined to New Zealand, he said.
The solution to the issue would not be found in simply changing the immigration settings, he said.
“The reality is we can’t simply recruit our way out of the problem. We need to be thinking about innovative solutions, providing new layers of workforce support, and looking at ways technology and innovation can help,” McKenzie said.
BNZ’s survey shows the uptake of technology in the sector was strong, but there were opportunities for improvement and further development.
Using technology so that a smaller number of healthcare workers could help more patients would be key to finding a solution, he said.
Despite the challenges there was some optimism in the sector.
“New Zealand’s healthcare sector is vitally important, not just for the health and wellbeing of our country, but as a financial engine too, representing nearly 10% of our GDP.
“There’s a tremendous amount of growth potential in the years ahead. Unlocking that quickly is crucial for delivering better healthcare and financial outcomes for New Zealand,” he said.
