Are you noticing hourly rates dropping significantly on job offers in your area?

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I’m an agency nurse, and while some places did offer pay boosts during covid  (while others had no pay incentives and you were lucky if they had any PPE), I have noticed in the last month, the hourly rate both through agency and on job offers through the big job websites are averaging around what I used to make 6-7 years ago. 
 

I am in an area that supposedly has a growing population of seniors which should also mean more chronic conditions and healthcare demands, and we have a nursing shortage supposedly as well, so how on earth is pay going down and not up? Where are they finding nurses to work for these pathetic wages? Especially after the year we’ve been through!

Are you seeing the same thing in your area?

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     I think it must be somewhat regional.  I know that when I travelled, there were a few states that offered such low salaries, that I didn't even consider an assignment-it was what I earned 20 years ago.  The East Coast, the South, and the Southwest all seemed to be way behind wages offered in NY, California, Oregon, and Washington state.

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Maybe they decided to pay their staff employees more to help with retention and aren’t offering travelers as much.

That’s been my point all along.  Pay your loyal staff more money and you won’t have to pay travelers high amounts of money.

I know my hospital at least has actually started doing this.  Still make 1/3 of a traveler but my pay has significantly increased this year.

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On 8/9/2021 at 6:46 PM, LovingLife123 said:

Maybe they decided to pay their staff employees more to help with retention and aren’t offering travelers as much.

That’s been my point all along.  Pay your loyal staff more money and you won’t have to pay travelers high amounts of money.

I know my hospital at least has actually started doing this.  Still make 1/3 of a traveler but my pay has significantly increased this year.

That's the thing though, the agency pay is still significantly higher than what places are offering to staff employees. It's just that agency pay is stagnating at pre-covid levels and the job offers I see on job websites are frighteningly low. 

I'm talking the hourly rate I was getting paid in 2013 with just a couple years experience, is the average rate I'm seeing offered now for jobs that require experience, not new grad offers.

I am already looking to move out of this metro due to rising cost of living and other problems, and the wages I'm seeing offered is scaring me into making moves faster, since it will undoubtedly cause continued staffing shortages, burnout etc, beyond what already is happening.

Just wondering if it's a nationwide issue but sounds maybe local, which is a relief.

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