01 Apr Hygienist and Assistant Staff Shortages

Hygienist and Assistant Staff Shortages

April 2018
Remember the days when hiring staff was easy?
It seems like yesterday that it was as simple as posting an ad or going through an agency and within 24 hours, like magic, the resumes would start rolling in leaving you with the difficult decision of which qualified candidate to hire. Bring back memories? Ah yes, the good ol’ days when there were endless options! Well, those days appear to be over, and we are now faced with a significant shortage in Dental Assistants and Hygienists in King and some surrounding counties.

So what’s going on? Where are all of the Dental Assistants and Hygienists?
Well the answer lies in the same reasoning behind why property values are sky rocketing….it’s our thriving economy. While Amazon, Microsoft, Expedia and other tech companies have positively impacted our community, these powerhouse corporations have also been the major contributing factor to the worker shortage. It’s always hard to complain about a booming economy, but for dentists it appears to be a double edged sword.

We’ve all seen the news…we’ve seen what is going on with market trends. Seattle Times reported just last month that both Seattle and the Eastside have again made the record books. New data released showed Seattle’s median home price hit $777,000 in February 2018, $20,000 more than the previous all-time high set just a month before that. Monthly rental rates are also on a constant uphill trend. In most King County cities, $2,000 – $3,000 a month for a 1-2 bedroom apartment is not unheard of. In fact, it is quickly becoming the new norm.

Wages have not been able to catch up to this continuous rise of housing costs thus making it increasingly difficult for Assistants and Hygienists to live in or near major cities. It’s true that wages are higher in Seattle and the Eastside versus Snohomish or Pierce County, but as traffic gets more unbearable each day, a few extra dollars an hour in wages just isn’t worth the stress and time spent commuting.

To add to the shortage problem, the demand continues to grow with a large number of dental students graduating from the University of Washington each year. New dental practices are popping up all over Washington, more so in the heavily populated Seattle and Eastside. This creates higher demand for Assistants and Hygienists which in turn creates more competition in an already understaffed field.

As far as what’s next, maybe Amazon can start shipping in Dental Assistants and Hygienists. Hopefully they’ll be Prime eligible!