Healthcare has seen a huge transformation since Covid-19 hit, creating major challenges and staffing shortages worldwide. In response to these critical shortages, the healthcare staffing industry has been working tirelessly to provide innovative solutions. Staffing agencies have been instrumental in bridging the gap, offering temporary placements, flexible staffing options, technology solutions and strategic recruitment tactics to alleviate the strain on healthcare institutions.

Looking ahead to 2024, the healthcare staffing industry is on the brink of yet another transformative phase, largely influenced by the continuing evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI. In the next 12 months, the industry can expect to see advancements with AI technology, particularly in the following areas.

Screening and skills assessment. AI is already making a big impact in the staffing industry. It’s automating tasks that used to be quite labor intensive, like sourcing, screening and matching candidates. As the year goes on, we’ll see more companies take advantage of AI for data-heavy tasks.

Consider the screening process, for example. Right now, it’s mostly handled by recruiters who ask a series of predetermined questions. But as generative AI continues to evolve, it’s likely more companies will start using this technology for this part of the process. This will free up recruiters to focus on more strategic decision making.

Some generative AI tools can even infer a candidate’s suitability based on the information available, even if it’s not explicitly stated in their résumé, replicating the decision-making process of a recruiter. But while AI can handle a significant portion of these tasks, it’s important to remember that human oversight remains essential for accuracy and final decision making.

Matching and selection. Imagine how much smoother the hiring process could be if we could predict the perfect candidate for a job based on their résumé, reviews and online behavior. That’s where generative AI comes in. It’s set to significantly elevate the way we match candidates to jobs not just by increasing the speed but also by enhancing the quality and accuracy of these matches.

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AI has the power to swiftly generate new job matches for candidates based on what they’re looking for. Plus, it might even pick up on nuances a recruiter might miss. For example, it could find a job location that’s a better fit based on the candidate’s specific preferences.

In this case, generative AI offers tremendous potential to revolutionize candidate matching and streamline the recruitment process. But of course, with such potential comes a few concerns. Issues like biases and the need for transparency are something we’ll need to delve deeper into in the coming months.

Redeployment. Staffing firms often struggle with promptly contacting workers whose contracts are ending, leading to missed opportunities for redeployment. This has been a longstanding issue in the industry.

Generative AI is the game changer we’ve been waiting for to streamline redeployment. It can assist by maintaining updated database information, tracking contract end dates and proactively engaging with workers, offering more accurate and quality matches for new positions as their assignments near completion.

Right now, some companies may be using AI for tasks such as verifying contact information, tracking contract end dates and initiating contact with workers whose assignments are ending. In 2024, we’ll see a focus on enhancing these processes, including holding end-of-engagement conversations, proactively reaching out to workers before contracts end and matching workers transitioning from one assignment to another.

What’s Ahead for AI in Staffing?

Overall, the integration of AI in the staffing industry will evolve into a partnership between human decision making and generative AI-enabled automation, which will result in better efficiency, more accuracy and an improved customer experience.

AI holds the potential to speed up the main goal of the staffing industry, which is to match workers with the right jobs. This isn’t just a short-term fix — it’s a chance for the industry to grow long term and tackle some of the tough issues it has faced for years.

Writen by: Jason Lander