Strategic Workforce Optimization
Lower Costs, Avoid Layoffs, Build Resilience
Despite continued labor shortages in vital patient-facing roles and the post-COVID “great resignation,” many health care organizations have had to consider layoffs in the past year. Human resources professionals are experiencing numerous operational pressures, often including an increased push to reduce labor costs. As these teams grapple with balancing increased burnout, turnover, and staffing shortages with a need to cut costs, they seek alternative strategies to address these challenges.
Health care organizations need help resetting their financials based on the post-COVID labor shortages and increased costs. While layoffs are often an option, they are not always the best and fastest way to find savings. Implementing cost-cutting measures requires a comprehensive workforce optimization approach that includes employee, leader, manager, and legal considerations and careful analyses to understand where labor costs, benefit offerings and positions can be streamlined. If layoffs are imminent, consider the above recommendations and consult your legal counsel and leaders. By doing so, HR professionals can navigate the process with empathy, transparency, and compliance, minimizing negative impacts and maintaining organizational stability during challenging times.
In this article, SullivanCotter outlines:
- Unprecedented Financial Pressures
- Pressures on Labor Costs
- Layoff Trends in Health Care
- Cost Cutting Alternatives
- Instituting Layoffs