Healthcare Employers Are Paying More and Still Losing Allied Health Talent

As healthcare systems grapple with widespread workforce challenges, employers are offering unprecedented incentives to attract allied health professionals. Despite their efforts, vacancies continue to climb. The pressures are especially acute in allied health roles, where demand keeps rising while the number of qualified candidates can’t keep pace. And health systems are finding that even generous bonuses aren’t enough to keep departments staffed in critical roles, such as medical assistants, sterile processing technicians, phlebotomists and EKG technicians.

The Stark Reality Facing Healthcare Staffing 

These roles are central to daily operations, and the strain becomes even clearer in the data. A recent survey of 165 healthcare employers illustrates just how short-staffed the system has become. An overwhelming 95% said staffing shortages have directly impacted operations this year, resulting in delayed appointments, longer patient wait times and rising burnout among existing staff. In an attempt to remain competitive, 73% of employers surveyed now offer signing bonuses for allied health hires, typically between $3,000 and $5,000. But despite offering more money, 41% reported that hiring has become even more difficult over the past year. 

Why Traditional Fixes Don’t Work

For years, healthcare employers have relied on the same set of staffing incentives: signing bonuses, overtime, temp agencies and aggressive recruiting, but those approaches just don’t go as far as they used to. The reality is that there aren’t enough people entering allied health roles to keep up with growing demand, and traditional training programs can’t produce new talent quickly enough. Even when employers offer more money or faster hiring, they’re still competing for the same limited group of candidates. The system they’re trying to fix has fundamentally changed.

This paradox, paying more yet securing less talent, highlights a deeper structural challenge. Traditional education pipelines simply cannot keep up with demand. In-person training programs often face limited classroom capacity, long waiting lists or schedules that make enrollment difficult for working adults or career changers. As a result, the number of new allied health professionals entering the workforce isn’t keeping pace with retirements, attrition and expanding care needs.

One notable trend from the survey, however, offers a bit of optimism: employers report stronger-than-expected outcomes from candidates trained through online certification pathways. Nearly 70% said that employees educated through an online format perform at the same or higher level as those trained in person. The flexibility of digital learning has opened the door for more adults, including those balancing jobs, childcare or geographic constraints, to pursue healthcare careers. The expanded access to education and training is helping pull more people into roles that desperately need them.

The Road to Retention

Retention is another area where alternative training pathways are making a real difference. Employers partnering with online training providers say they’re seeing higher levels of long-term employee stability, suggesting that individuals who choose flexible learning models may enter the workforce with a stronger sense of commitment or better alignment with their career goals. Given the high costs associated with turnover, from repeated onboarding cycles to disruptions in patient care, even modest improvements in retention can quickly add up for employers. Replacing an allied health worker can easily cost anywhere from half to a full year of that employee’s salary, often $40,000 to $80,000, and even more for specialized roles or positions that are vacant for too long.

What the data makes clear is that financial incentives alone are not solving the allied health staffing crisis. Employers are increasingly recognizing that sustainable solutions require rethinking how talent enters the field, not just how it is compensated. Expanding access to multiple training formats, strengthening partnerships with education providers and building clearer career pathways can all help stabilize the workforce far more effectively than raising bonuses year after year.

Looking Ahead

As healthcare organizations plan for the year ahead, many are shifting their focus from short-term hiring fixes to strategies that bring more people into allied health roles. Several new approaches are showing promise. Virtual and hybrid training models are increasing access for adults who can’t attend traditional programs, while simulation-based learning is helping accelerate skill development. At the same time, more health systems are exploring earn-while-you-learn models, such as allied health apprenticeships, that give employers a way to develop talent internally rather than compete for a limited pool.

These approaches won’t solve the workforce shortage overnight, but they offer something bonuses can’t: sustainable ways to bring more people into healthcare roles and keep them there. The organizations that invest in flexible training, clearer career pathways and modernized development models will be better positioned to build a stable, resilient allied health workforce in the years ahead.

The allied health shortage is not merely the result of insufficient wages or competition among employers. It is the result of a talent pipeline that no longer fits the realities of today’s learners or the demands of modern healthcare. As health systems reassess their recruitment and training strategies, the organizations that embrace flexibility, accessibility and modern training alternatives will be best positioned to rebuild a more stable and more resilient workforce.