Hospitals targeting millennials for workforce

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Hospitals on Long Island are now targeting millennials as a crucial part of their workforce.

24-year-old Jennifer Carillo is a nurse in North Shore University Medical Center’s emergency department.  27-year-old Elizabeth McCormick works in nurse administration, and 36-year-old Sherley John spends her shifts in the neurosurgical intensive care unit.

While all three women were drawn to their careers for a different reason, they say the decision to work in health care was an easy one.

"Taking care of people… there is no joy like taking care of other people," McCormick says.

"I’ve always loved working with people, and being around people, but I’m also very clinical in all of my thoughts," Carillo adds.

According to the New York State Department of Labor, healthcare is the biggest job generator on Long Island, adding nearly ten-thousand jobs since July of 2018.

Many healthcare employers are now seeking to recruit a younger workforce as the demand for care soars.

"We want to continue to retain our tenured talent, to mentor them, to bring them on board," says Kerri Scanlon, Deputy Chief Nurse Executive & Chief Nursing Officer at Northwell Health.

Northwell Health is the largest private employer in New York State, with more than 16,000 nurses, alone and 38-percent of those nurses are millennials.

If you factor in the growing crisis of student loan debt, a career in healthcare might even be more worth the while.

Millennial nurses say they’re not only drawn to the job by promising salaries and benefits but, by added perks, too, like getting the opportunity to continue their educations.

"I love what I do. I also like the flexibility of my twelve-hour shift. There are so many opportunities," John says.

Carillo and McCormick are on track to earn their master’s degrees, while John completed hers last year.