France hopes to recruit 200,000 young people over 5 years to hospital jobs in France
February 21, 2008
Health Minister of France Roselyne Bachelot announced on Tuesday a massive recruitment effort aimed at young people in France to encourage them to enter the hospital industry. She said that because of retirements of hospital workers in France expected over the next five years, over 200,000 jobs will need to be filled, covering over 150 disciplines. Nurses will leave the biggest gap in French hospitals, with over 94,000 slated for retirement by the year 2015.
“There are all kinds of trades in hospital work, “she explained on a Canal + television program in France. “Of course one thinks immediately of the doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and nurses. But there all also all kind of technical trades: radiology, for example.” Following a much-publicized radiology accident in France at hospital in Epinal, blamed on understaffing, the minister also has a goal of doubling the number of certified radiologists in French hospitals from 300 to 600.
Hospital work in France has gotten a bad rap among young people, paradoxically because it is believed to be too exclusive—open only to those with a lot of higher education—and also because of its poor reputation in France for long hours and unpleasant working conditions. These views had led to the current shortage of hospital workers in France, which is soon to become an acute problem as today’s hospital employees leave the work force.
“There is a recruitment problem”, recognized Mrs. Bachelot, who says that the poor image borne by hospital work in France is false. She decided to launch the current irreverent recruitment campaign aimed at young people in France considering their career choices. The campaign features television and internet commercials set in and around French hospitals, and can be viewed at the web site www.lhopitalabesoindevous.fr. (Translated, the name of the web site is “hospitals need you.”)
In one spot, a man sitting at home attempts to set his own broken leg in his living room, as his resigned wife looks on. A voice over says, “If it were this simple, we wouldn’t need to recruit hospital workers.”
However, the French Minister stressed that not only skilled or medically trained workers were needed in French hospitals. Many non-medical positions are available, including those in accounting and finance, food service, maintenance and many more that might not come to mind as hospital-related when young people in France start to look for work. She specified that there was something for French job-seekers of every level of education, from those with no college degree to post-graduates.
As well, with French hospitals like other industries in France becoming increasingly high-tech, there is a growing need for more computer-literate workers. Recent graduates of French universities and high schools are being eyed to fill this gap.
In terms of pay, director of hospitals and care Anne Podeur insisted that salaries for hospital jobs in France were competitive with those in the private sector and offered ample chances for advancement. Minister Bachelot echoed that hospital work offered more opportunities for valuable on-the-job training that could grow a young French person’s career.
But the hospital recruitment campaign in France comes amid an uphill battle in terms of publicity. Recent strikes by hospital workers and statistics on work-related illnesses and absences have put the spotlight on substandard working conditions at hospitals in France. Solving the emerging labor crisis in French hospitals may take more than a few funny TV spots to attract new job-seekers with an array of choices before them.
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