Here in Northeast Ohio the prominence of our healthcare industry is often touted as one of the region’s greatest strengths. In terms of sheer volume, health care represents a significant proportion of the workforce- approximately 16% according to the 2012 Current Employment Statistics survey for non-agricultural jobs in the Cleveland-Elyria-mentor Metropolitan Statistic Area (MSA).
However, for those 155,400 individuals employed in healthcare/social assistance, being part of the workforce for this booming industry does not always translate into higher levels of compensation. In fact, using data from several ERC Compensation Surveys to perform an occupation specific analysis for 40 job categories placed two occupational subcategories within the healthcare industry, i.e. Patient/Client Services and Social Work, among the 10 lowest paying job categories in Northeast Ohio. Conversely, Clinical Healthcare Practitioners and Nurses came in as two of the 10 highest paying job categories in the region according to this 2012 data.
Nursing, coming in as the fourth highest paid occupation in the analysis, is one of only a few positions that pay above the national median salary reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As noted in a recent article from Crain’s Cleveland Business, registered nurses in particular can expect to remain in high demand across local healthcare systems. Clearly this demand for specialized, skilled talent is a key factor driving up rates of compensation within Nursing and among Clinical Healthcare Practitioners more generally.
At the opposite end of the spectrum the Patient/Client Services category includes a wide variety of jobs in healthcare, but with two important items in common, fairly low education and skill requirements and often highly repetitive job duties. A notable exception to this generalization that lower skills equate to lower pay, is in the field of Social Work. According to the 2011 ERC Non-Profit Benefits Survey, one way organizations often look to counteract this low market valuation of Health and Human Services positions such as Social Workers is to offer a unique array of other non-cash benefits that serve to enhance the total rewards package employees in these positions receive.
Additional Resources
ERC Non-Profit Compensation & Benefits Surveys
ERC, in partnership with United Way of Greater Cleveland, has created compensation and benefits surveys to help non-profits in Northeast Ohio gauge their compensation and benefits practices. Through this exclusive partnership, United Way Agencies that participate in these surveys will receive the survey results for no cost. Participate in our Compensation and Benefit Surveys by clicking here.
*The average median base salary figure for each occupation was calculated using data excerpts from the following surveys conducted by ERC: 2012 ERC Salary Survey, 2012 ERC Wage Survey and 2011 ERC Non-Profit Compensation Survey. Please note that the salary figure reported for each occupational category is an average of median salaries across applicable job titles from entry level up through management level positions.
