Sixty-three percent of laboratories are facing increased competition for qualified staff as the primary challenge to filling vacancies, according to the Wage & Vacancy Study 2009 conducted by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). Other hiring challenges include salary and job location. Thirty-three percent of survey respondents reported low compensation as a recruiting problem, while 28 percent said that applicants were unwilling to relocate. The survey results include responses from almost 1,600 laboratorians working in hospital, reference, and physician office laboratories in the United States.
Respondents said that the most difficult positions to replace are medical technologists (MT) at the staff level (63 percent), followed by medical laboratory technicians (MLT) at 38 percent. The highest vacancy rate was for MTs at 10.4 percent, primarily in the East North Central and Far West areas of the United States. Laboratory assistants (LA) also reported high vacancy rates at 8.8 percent, primarily in high-volume testing labs (26.3 percent). Histotechnicians (HT) also rated among the highest in vacancies at 8 percent. The survey showed MLTs with a 6.4 percent vacancy rate. The highest MLT vacancies were in outpatient clinics, reference labs, and high-volume testing labs. Cytotechnologists also had a high vacancy rate at 4.8 percent, although this rate included only hospital and private clinic/reference labs.
The current workforce shortage issues are only exacerbated by the high rate of staff expected to retire in the near future. The ASCP survey found that 13 percent of the current laboratory staff is likely to retire in the next five years. And hiring qualified lab staff to replace these workers will prove tough with fewer becoming trained. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that by 2012, 138,000 lab professionals will be needed, but fewer than 50,000 will be trained.
Pathologists’ Assistants Are Top Wage Earners
In terms of average annual salaries, the ASCP survey also found that the highest earner in the field was the pathologists’ assistant (PA), with staff-level wages around $72,800 per year. MT managers followed with a national average of about $70,720 annually, while the average salary for a full-time MT was $47,840 per year. Cytotechnologist (CT) wages are slightly higher at a national average of $58,032. The survey’s findings also reported that staff-level LAs had an average annual salary of $28,080, while phlebotomists (PBT) earned $27,040 annually. The survey also reported median average hourly wages, although for many positions, there was an insufficient sample size to provide adequate analysis. However, it does appear that private clinic and reference labs outpace hospital and physician office labs in hourly pay rates.
April 2009 - Table of Contents
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