Healthcare Recruitment Trends in 2025: How Relocation Support Is Critical

A new year brings new perspectives. While recruitment will remain a key industry priority in 2025, certain aspects of healthcare hiring are gaining attention.

Let’s review these emerging trends-within-a-trend—and why cutting-edge relocation support remains more important than ever.
  

Five 2025 Healthcare Hiring Trends

What’s hot isn’t necessarily new. Chances are, you’ve been thinking and hearing about these issues for some time—but now they’re gaining momentum. So, even if they weren’t on your radar before, chances are, they will be as the year unfolds.

1. Increased Demand for Certain Specialists

While healthcare staffing shortages run the gamut, some specialties are in particularly high demand. For example, given the ongoing physician shortage, employers are increasingly searching for advanced practice providers like physician assistants and nurse practitioners to help bridge the gap. 

In fact, according to one leading recruiter’s research, nurse practitioners are now the most in-demand specialty (followed by family practitioners and OBGYNs). In addition, as the population ages, we’re seeing increased market demand for providers who specialize in geriatrics and long-term care.

2. A Renewed Commitment to DEI

While in some industries, corporate employers are rolling back their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, that’s not the case in healthcare, where staff diversity has been found to improve patient care and foster innovation.

This isn’t about diversity for diversity’s sake. Many healthcare organizations are striving to build a workforce that mirrors their patient populations, by employing recruitment strategies that attract such candidates.

3. Continued Geographic Hiring Challenges

Attracting candidates to accept work in underserved and rural communities will continue to be challenging in 2025. Some healthcare professionals avoid these positions due to worries about the workload and isolation, as well as cultural differences. 

Proactive employers are finding fresh ways to allay candidates’ fears, addressing the preconceptions head-on and actively highlighting the advantages of their area and its lifestyle.

4. More Emphasis on Employer Branding

It’s not enough to offer a big paycheck. Today’s healthcare professionals seek employers that value their people, treat them like friends, and share their personal values.

That’s why more healthcare organizations are engaging in employer branding, burnishing their image, and crafting a compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP)—i.e., what’s in it for you. The more impressive their story—and the better they tell it, the more effective their recruiting will be. 

5. Increased Adoption of HR Technologies

Technology keeps advancing—in medicine and HR. While the healthcare industry is already using recruiting software, expect to see more widespread adoption of AI and data analytics to screen applicants, predict staffing needs, and generally enhance the overall recruiting process.

After all, healthcare professionals use the most advanced medical technologies available. Why would they expect anything less from their employers?  

How Cutting-Edge Relocation Will Support Recruiting in 2025

Whether your 2025 hiring goals include attracting hard-to-find medical specialists or a range of diverse candidates, a competitive relocation program should be one of most effective recruiting tools in your toolbox.

For one thing, offering relocation benefits, beyond reimbursement and lump sum payouts without support,  allows you to broaden your outreach and appeal more persuasively to long-distance candidates, assuring them that their move will be covered at minimal cost and stress to them.

For another, offering impressive relocation benefits helps burnish your employer brand, delivering on your promise to take good care of your people. It’s a key component of a compelling EVP!

And when you use a software-based relocation solution like UrbanBound, you demonstrate your commitment to staying on the cutting edge of technology. Relocation software will save your new hires (and HR staff) time and stress—and save your organization money, too.