{"id":10052,"date":"2026-08-13T21:45:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T20:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaposlitev.tothemoon.si\/?p=10052"},"modified":"2026-08-25T21:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:54:46","slug":"what-the-new-generation-of-healthcare-workers-wants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/en\/what-the-new-generation-of-healthcare-workers-wants\/","title":{"rendered":"What the New Generation of Healthcare Workers Wants: 10 Priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a time when a healthcare employer only had to say \u00bbsecure job, regular pay, permanent contract\u00ab. Today that offer struggles to convince the candidates everyone is competing for.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A
Younger healthcare workers look beyond pay when choosing an employer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A young doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, radiographer, laboratory scientist, pharmacist or psychologist enters the labour market with different expectations. They no longer ask only how much they will earn, but also: what will my working day look like, will I have a life outside work, who will mentor me, where can I progress, and is this somewhere I will still want to be in five years?<\/p>\n

This is not a generational whim. It is a shift in bargaining power.<\/p>\n

The WHO European Observatory on Health Systems warns that workforce shortages, \u00bbmedical deserts\u00ab, skills gaps and poor retention are already widespread across Europe. The question for the future is therefore no longer only how do we find enough healthcare workers<\/em>, but why would the best healthcare worker choose us, and why would they stay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gen Z arrives with a different deal in mind<\/h2>\n

Gen Z is not a homogeneous group, and no individual can be explained by their year of birth. The data, however, shows a clear shift.<\/p>\n

Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, covering more than 23,000 respondents in 44 countries, shows that younger generations emphasise learning, development, financial security, purpose and wellbeing. Only 6 % named reaching a leadership position as their primary career goal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Younger staff are not rejecting ambition. They are rejecting the idea that progression must come at the permanent cost of private life. And this is where healthcare meets one of its biggest problems: shift work, night shifts, understaffing, responsibility for patients and daily contact with suffering mean that the quality of the working environment is not a comfort question. It is a question of whether the career is sustainable at all<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ten priorities in a healthcare job today<\/h2>\n

1. Pay that reflects responsibility and the cost of living<\/h3>\n

Purpose does not pay rent. Employers can talk about mission and values, but a younger healthcare worker knows exactly what living costs.<\/p>\n

NHS data shows the generational gap clearly: in the 2025 survey only 24 % of staff aged 21\u201330<\/strong> were satisfied with their pay, compared with 36 % of those aged 51\u201365.<\/p>\n

Pay has to be competitive, transparent and understandable \u2014 including shift and night premiums, funded training, help with accommodation, subsidised travel and recognition of additional competencies.<\/p>\n

2. Work\u2013life balance<\/h3>\n

Younger candidates do not necessarily want to work less. They want to know when<\/em> they work: a predictable rota, the option to swap shifts, respect for days off, and less of the \u00bbif it’s busy, just stay a bit longer\u00ab culture.<\/p>\n

Full flexibility is impossible in healthcare \u2014 a patient cannot wait. That is not an argument against flexibility, but for smarter work organisation: in rostering, administration, rotations and workload allocation.<\/p>\n

3. Mental health and burnout prevention<\/h3>\n

Chronic exhaustion presented as proof of dedication is not normal.<\/p>\n

Analysing more than a million NHS staff responses, the Nuffield Trust found a marked widening of generational gaps. In the 2025 survey, 41 % of staff aged 21\u201330<\/strong> said they often or always feel burnt out, compared with 25 % of those aged 51\u201365. A third of young staff often think about leaving.<\/p>\n

Wellbeing is not fruit on Fridays. It is realistic staffing, enough time to do the work, psychological safety, access to support, good leadership \u2014 and removing the causes of burnout. A meditation app alongside systematic overload solves nothing.<\/p>\n

4. A clear career path<\/h3>\n

A young candidate wants to know what happens to them in two years. If the answer is \u00bbwe’ll see\u00ab, they will start looking elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The path has to be concrete: mentoring \u2192 certified training \u2192 new competency \u2192 greater responsibility \u2192 clinical or leadership track. And not everyone wants to be a director \u2014 healthcare needs clinical, professional, research, teaching, technology and project paths too. The career of the future is not a ladder. It is a network of routes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Training and lifelong learning<\/h3>\n

To keep a young professional, an employer must show that their market value will grow: funded training, mentoring, conferences, specialisations, certification.<\/p>\n

The WHO European Observatory stresses that digitalisation and new models of care require effective continuous professional development. An employer who funds development is not paying someone to leave one day \u2014 they are buying the chance that the person stays.<\/p>\n

6. Good leadership<\/h3>\n

Younger generations have far less tolerance for a manager whose authority rests on \u00bbwe’ve always done it this way\u00ab. They want someone who listens, gives feedback, explains decisions, admits mistakes, protects the team and tells the truth even when it is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

This matters especially in healthcare, where hierarchy is traditionally strong. A good leader today is not the one who gives orders loudest, but the one people want to keep working for.<\/p>\n

7. Technology and artificial intelligence<\/h3>\n

Young healthcare workers are not impressed by AI as technology. They care about outcomes. If it removes admin and repetitive tasks, they will adopt it. If it adds thirty clicks, they will experience it as another burden.<\/p>\n

PwC’s 2025 Global Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey of nearly 50,000 workers across 48 economies found that 54 % had used AI at work in the past year, but only 14 % daily. Daily users reported markedly higher productivity and job security.<\/p>\n

8. Purpose and visible impact<\/h3>\n

Healthcare has a natural advantage here \u2014 the work matters by definition. But there is a paradox: if an organisation talks constantly about its mission while staff lack the time, equipment or colleagues to do the work well, the word \u00bbmission\u00ab loses value.<\/p>\n

Younger staff want to see the chain: my work \u2192 patient \u2192 outcome \u2192 impact<\/em>.<\/p>\n

9. A culture of respect and belonging<\/h3>\n

Pay gets someone through the door. Culture decides whether they stay. Staff want to know whether colleagues respect them, whether they can say something isn’t working, and whether raising a problem will be held against them.<\/p>\n

The Nuffield Trust also flagged declining confidence that organisations act when staff raise concerns. The lesson: a staff survey is useless if nothing changes afterwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n

10. A life, not only a career<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the deepest change. A young healthcare worker wants to be a professional \u2014 and at the same time a partner, parent, friend, athlete or simply a person. Work is no longer the whole identity.<\/p>\n

What this means for the labour market<\/h2>\n

The new generation is not less willing to work. It wants to know what it is working for. It is not less loyal \u2014 it is less willing to be loyal to an organisation that does not return that loyalty. And it is not less ambitious: it simply defines ambition differently.<\/p>\n

The best healthcare workers of the future will not be choosing a job. They will be choosing an environment in which they can build both a life and a career.<\/p>\n

\n

Part two, for employers:<\/strong> what a healthcare employer actually has to offer, how to write a job advertisement that works, and why retention matters more than recruitment.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Why would your best healthcare worker stay with you?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n

What do young healthcare workers want from a job?<\/h3>\n

Competitive and transparent pay, a predictable rota, protection from burnout, a clear career path, funded training, a good manager, useful technology, purpose, a culture of respect and a life outside work.<\/p>\n

Is pay the most important factor in a healthcare job?<\/h3>\n

Pay is necessary but not sufficient. Research shows younger generations treat financial security, purpose and wellbeing as parts of the same equation rather than competing priorities.<\/p>\n

How important is work\u2013life balance in healthcare?<\/h3>\n

Very. Younger candidates usually do not ask for less work, but for predictability: rotas published well in advance, the ability to swap shifts and respect for days off.<\/p>\n

How is AI changing healthcare work?<\/h3>\n

Where it removes admin and repetitive tasks, staff adopt it and daily users report higher productivity. Where it adds steps without benefit, it is experienced as extra burden.<\/p>\n

Why do young healthcare workers leave?<\/h3>\n

Most often because of overload, burnout, the sense that raising concerns changes nothing, and the absence of a clear career path. NHS data shows a third of staff aged 21\u201330 often think about leaving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals expect from a job today? The 10 priorities of Gen Z and millennials in healthcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[432,1082],"class_list":["post-10052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-information","tag-healthcare-careers","tag-working-conditions-in-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10052"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10058,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052\/revisions\/10058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zdravstvena.info\/zaposlitev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}