Strong Outlook for Medical Laboratory Jobs in 2022
As the new year gets underway, what can we look forward to in the medical laboratory arena?
Perhaps the biggest trend in medical laboratories is the tremendous demand for qualified professionals to fill job openings. If you’re contemplating the possibility of a travel job in a medical laboratory specialty, 2022 could be a banner year for you.
MTs and MLTs in great demand
Who’s hiring? Just about every clinical lab, it seems. In fact, the demand for medical technologists (MT) and medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) has been soaring recently, and recruitment experts anticipate that the demand will continue well into 2022.
“MTs and MLTs are definitely the two strongest needs right now in terms of lab jobs,” said Mary D., a senior recruiter for Club Staffing.
Some healthcare organizations simply need more staff to accommodate their patients’ needs during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are trying to replace staff who may have retired or left the workforce, on either a permanent or temporary basis.
These situations are providing good opportunities for medical laboratory professionals who are looking for short-term work. “We can pay them more and keep them working at really good rates, definitely paying higher than in previous years,” Mary explained.
Given the demand for traveling MTs and MLTs, you can expect to earn a very favorable paycheck if you take on an assignment in 2022. More and more medical laboratory jobs are offering higher pay rates right now, and it’s a trend that’s spread across the country. In fact, it’s not usual for some organizations to pay as much as $2,000 per week. Mary has spoken with some travelers recently to suggest that they take advantage of some of these higher pay rates, which can be found in a number of states.
Most of these assignments for travel MTs and MLTs are for 13 weeks, but you may be able to land an assignment that enables you to extend for another few months.
Phlebotomists also wanted
If you’re a phlebotomist who’s interested in exploring a travel job, we have some good news for you: there are many job openings across the country for someone with your expertise.
Prior to COVID, travel phlebotomists were not in especially high demand when compared with other specialties, according to Mary. There were always some job openings, but many healthcare systems were finding they could fill most of their openings with local candidates, rather than turning to travelers.
But with the pandemic, all of that changed. Hospitals and healthcare organizations realized just how useful a travel phlebotomist could be. In addition to their typical duties, phlebotomists could play a role in “tent testing” for COVID in outdoor locations, as well as screening patients at the entrances to facilities. Suddenly, the demand shot up.
Mary explained that the number of job openings for travel phlebotomists has greatly increased in recent months, and she expects the demand to continue into 2022. There also seems to have been a slight increase in demand for histology technician jobs in recent months, and she expects that to continue in 2022, as well.
Looking forward in 2022
With the rise of cases due to the omicron variant of COVID-19, the pandemic is expected to continue for some time, which means the demand for healthcare professionals will continue, too. “I feel there is a very strong need for clinicians across the nation, particularly in the lab, but really everywhere,” Mary said. “And that’s not going away anytime soon.”
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