Top 5 Jobs with Staffing Shortages

Companies globally face a major challenge to navigate: the ongoing labor shortage. Studies have shown that there will be an estimated shortage of 85 million workers by 2030. The factors that have elicited the job shortage include the COVID-19 pandemic, low wages, an aging population, and a technology skills gap. 

The following are the five jobs with the most staffing shortages since 2020. 

Nursing 

Nurses are at the forefront of our healthcare system. Nurses facilitate the entire healthcare journey, from hospital admission to discharge. This role gives them the perspective and power to drive positive patient outcomes.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, no region of the US has been spared a shortage of registered nurses. In January 2022, governors across the country called in the National Guard to assist healthcare providers. At the same time, 1,118 hospitals reported critical nursing shortages.

Employment levels for registered nurses declined by 3% between 2020 and 2021, the largest decline in at least 20 years. Chief nursing officers have also consistently reported staffing as their greatest challenge throughout the pandemic.

Teachers

About half (44%) of public schools report having full or part-time teacher vacancies, according to a National Center for Education Statistics survey. And more than half of schools (57%) with one or more vacancies said they needed to use teachers for work outside their job descriptions. 

The two driving factors for teaching staff shortages include a lack of prospective teachers, low pay, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, 96% of educators say that raising teacher salaries would reduce staff burnout. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a staffing shortage in the nation’s schools,” NCES Commissioner, Peggy Carr, said in a March 2022 press release. Describing the vacancies as “widespread,” Carr said “these issues are disrupting school operations.”

Skilled Trades 

Nearly 7,000 electricians join the field each year, but 10,000 retire, according to the National Electrical Contractors Association. As job openings continue to increase without new laborers to fill them, every element of home services could be impacted: wait times, work quality, and cost.

Industry experts state that the trades lost nearly a million skilled workers during the recession that have yet to be replaced. And as older workers retire, the crunch will get even tighter.

Some reasons for the skilled trade shortages include the elimination of shop class in high schools, the great recession, and social pressures. 

The family-based nature of many trades also added to the issue. “A lot of plumbing companies are second-, third- or fourth-generation,” Brenda Dant, executive director of the Indiana Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association, said in a 2017 press release. “Sometimes they retire and the next generation doesn’t want to get into the business, and suddenly we’re short one more company.”

IT Specialist

The world has become more and more digitized throughout the past few years. Stores have moved their brands online, work has become remote, and apps have skyrocketed in downloads. Therefore, the growing demand for IT specialists will continue for the foreseeable future. 

In 2018, Gartner reported that 63% of senior executives admit to the shortage of software developers. And a 2019 report from CNBC News stated that there were nearly 920,000 unfilled IT positions and only 165,000 potential applicants. 

Similar to other short-staffed careers, the problem is clear: the number of open positions is growing, and the number of developers isn’t. And companies are continuing to suffer. 

Transportation: Truck Drivers

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), truckers may work up to 14 hours straight, divided between 11 hours of driving and 4 hours of other tasks.

The issue with these long hours is that drivers spend the majority of their time waiting for goods to be loaded or unloaded, and they are only paid for driving time. Many drivers also aren’t compensated for overtime, don’t have healthcare benefits, pay their own fuel costs, and spend days or weeks away from home.

The shortage of qualified professional truck drivers continues to rise year over year because drivers are searching for jobs that offer better pay, benefits, and working conditions.

Last year, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) reported a shortage of 80,000 drivers, an all-time high that could reach 160,000 by 2030. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic only made the driver shortage worse, as training and apprenticeship programs were either closed or limited their operations.

The solution, the ATA said, is to recruit a million new drivers over the next decade and increase the pay. 

For example, Walmart announced in April that it will pay its private fleet truck drivers as much as $110,000 in their first year, up from an average starting salary of $87,000.