New jobs numbers released Friday show Massachusetts' unemployment rate is at an ultra-low 3%, while demand for health care workers has soared to incredibly high levels.
According to the state's Department of Labor and Workforce Development, there were 49,030 job openings in the health care sector as of January 2024, with particularly high demand for nurses, with 10,000 job openings for registered nurses expected by the end of 2023. 7,627 cases were recorded.
No sector in Massachusetts is in more dire need of workers than health care. No job requires more qualified applicants than that of a registered nurse.
Gov. Maura Healey's administration is taking an interagency approach to addressing the nursing shortage, but it may not be equipped to solve the problem in the short term.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government was putting more money into nursing schools to increase capacity, enhancing scholarship opportunities for nursing students and encouraging more nurses to become teachers. We are allocating funds in the next budget to qualify. Retention bonuses and pay increases for existing nurses are also a point of discussion.
Transfr, a virtual reality workforce training company, can't use its technology to turn someone into a registered nurse. However, just using a VR headset can help train entry-level medical personnel.
The company has shared its approach with Massachusetts lawmakers, touting VR as a workforce solution.
“We created these essential skills packages because we understand that for all of these entry-level positions, there are specific patient care fundamentals that everyone should know,” said Transfr. said Kate Kimmer, Director of. “We can actually enable people to acquire these skills and train more quickly and get into the roles they want to be in.”
