Industry Recovery Panel Perspectives: Skills for an Inclusive Healthcare Economy

Allied and direct healthcare workers have been on the pandemic’s frontlines caring for people in the most high-risk settings. Occupational segregation has concentrated immigrants and people of color, particularly women, in these skilled, high-risk, often underpaid jobs. Demand for allied and direct healthcare professionals was high before the virus hit; these jobs will grow at twice the rate of other occupations in the coming years.

National Skills Coalition (NSC) and Business Leaders United (BLU) convened a Healthcare Industry Recovery Panel of leading experts working in local communities to learn what an effective, equitable plan for America’s allied and direct care workforce needs to include. Panelists represent business, labor, education and training organizations, and others working in or with the allied and direct care segments of the healthcare industry.

Key recommendations in this brief offered by the Panel to President Biden and Congress include:

• Prioritize workforce investments and equity in federal recovery efforts
• Support industry engagement and equitable career pathways across the continuum of care, including by increasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates
• Support nimble industry- and worker-responsive training and tuition assistance
• Ensure healthcare workers and employers can adopt and adapt to new innovations that have the potential to improve job quality and patient care 
• Incentivize employer investment in worker training and advancement

NSC and BLU’s four Industry Recovery Panels have been sharing their collective recommendations with Congressional Leadership and Administration officials. Visit our Industry Recovery Panels landing page to learn more about each panel.