Healthcare workers are increasingly opting for contract roles and self-employment, according to a recent study from LinkedIn.
LinkedIn's economic graph team examined the percentage of nurses, physicians and mental health professionals in contract or self-employed professions from 2020 to 2022, finding a trend they've labeled the "Great Untethering."
Across all three professions, contract and self-employment roles rose between 2020 and 2022. There are several reasons why, most stemming from COVID-19, and as burnout rises within the profession, more healthcare workers are embracing flexible opportunities.
“The great thing about contract work is that I’m able to do a lot of different things because I have a lot of different interests,” mental health therapist Dana Wickwire Cheek told LinkedIn.
Three findings from LinkedIn's study:
1. More than 11 percent of mental health professionals listed contract labor on their LinkedIn profiles in 2022, up from 7.1 percent in 2020.
2. In 2022, 16.6 percent of mental health professionals were self-employed, up from 10.1 percent in 2020.
3. The top three hirers of mental health professionals in 2022 were telehealth companies.