Impact of current economic downturn on public workforce
The current economic downturn has had an impact on the public workforce. It has created a tremendous shortage in the public health sector. Generally, almost 15 million Americans are out of work and about five million of them have been out of work for half-a-year or more. Most people have had their hours cut down, working an average workweek of 33 hours. Many who had full-time jobs experienced pay cuts, and reduced benefits and hours, in order to share the pain and thus avoid mass layoffs (Paul Solman 2009).
The shortage of workers is projected to get worse if strict measures are not put in place. Changes in the society such as demographic variations associated with an aging population,
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To address the diversity that will be created by the increasing immigrant population, there should be increase in recruitment of diverse students into the public health sector. To attract students from minority population, increasing efforts such as creating federal Scholarships and student loan repayment would serve as incentives for recruitment and retention. Student loan repayment and scholarship programs, despite being very limited in nature, have also been shown to be effective in distributing health professionals to underserved communities (Perlino 2006). Creating diversity in the health profession will also create other benefits. Decisions about health care that reflect the values and beliefs of the entire population will be made. It will also enhance cultural sensitivity of health services that will be delivered by providers. Providers will be able to better respond to the needs of minority and underserved populations. Thus, by increasing the number of minority groups in the health professions, many existing health disparities may be reduced or …show more content…
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