Healthcare’s Great Untethering: What’s Driving Doctors, Nurses, and Therapists Out of Full-Time Employment

Aya’s group president of workforce solutions, April Hansen, discussed how we’re seeing a return of the career traveler, and shared how they’re seeking flexibility and upskilling. More and more healthcare professionals in the US, including doctors, are turning to self-employment and contract work, spurred on by the pandemic and a growing sense that traditional, full-time healthcare employment doesn’t pay, both economically and psychologically.

Nurses have made the most dramatic move into contract work, with a nearly 10 percentage point increase in the number of nurses who listed contract roles on their LinkedIn profiles between 2020 and 2022. The acute demand for clinicians during the pandemic diminished the stigma associated with contract work, particularly among doctors, who once viewed locum tenens as a career move of last resort. Meanwhile, new opportunities like telemedicine opened fresh professional paths to pursue.

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