MN DEED and Career Force launch nursing, residential and home care recruitment push for more workers

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the state human services department are launching a new career initiative called, “Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career,” aimed at driving more people into the nursing, residential and home care industries as those providers struggle to find workers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a news release from the state employment agency, more than 45,000 positions are currently open across the state in health care and through social assistance providers tailored provide health care services to people in their home.

Jason Pangiarella, workforce development representative at Career Force, said Minnesota is continuing to get older, which means more health care needs.

“We are older as a state,” said Pangiarella. “Our state demographer has been quite clear on our demographic trends, but also in the post-pandemic period, there have been a lot of transitions as people have changed jobs and professions, so we’re still catching up in this field. Part of Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career’s overall thrust is to try a publicize the opportunities that are available in those professional pathways.”

According to DEED, the median age of a Minnesotan has risen from 30 years old in 1980 to 38.9 in 2022. The agency also states, even though hospital staffs have finally rebounded to pre-pandemic employment levels, nursing and residential care jobs are still down 4.5% and home health care jobs are down 7.8% from early 2020.

Pangiarella also said, with the craze around artificial intelligence replacing people in their jobs in the future, the home care and health care industries are positions that can’t be replaced by artificial programs.

“These are professions that no artificial intelligence programs will ever be able to replace,” said Pangiarella. “You are going to be in-demand from day one through every day you do this job because these are super important and they cannot be substituted by a computer program, a drone, a robot, we need caring people in these professions, so they are quite stable. And, a lot of there just require a high school diploma.”

For more information on the Following Your Heart to a Caring Career campaign and a list of nursing and home care openings in the lakes area, visit the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Career Force website.