How the new labor market conditions affect the corporate culture of hospitals

Hospitals are facing a huge shortage of employees and this holds true not only for developing countries but also for countries with a relatively stable economy like Germany. One of the consequences is the growing number of foreign doctors in Germany who aim at a better professional development abroad.

There are many reasons for the arising of the problem with the deficiency of medical doctors. The growing life expectancy of the world population and the declining birth rates cause the steady increase of the percentage of people in pension age. 

In addition, the globalization of the labour market and the increasing opportunities for a career abroad have created a wide variety of jobs in the medical field. They can afford to reject some options while searching for the best job offer. Hospitals have caught up with this trend and have started creating a more employee-oriented corporate culture in order to retain their employees and to be able to attract newcomers.

Payment is just one of the factors determining the retention power of hospitals. Employers are more than ever eager to offer structured training programs, supportive mentorship and feedback discussions on a regular basis since they know that highly-qualified specialists want to develop professionally.

Another significant trend is the increased focus of physicians on achieving a better work-life balance. Hospitals try to respond to that need of their employees in order to boost the doctors recruitment process by offering flexible working time models, in-house day care, Nanny Agencies, clinic own holiday camps for the care of primary school students during the 13 weeks of vacation a year.     

Work-related stress among doctors is also an issue targeted by hospitals. Employers have adopted a more empathic leadership style and have launched corporate health management programs.


Doctors detest clumsy bureaucratic procedures which deprive them of valuable time that can be spent on treating patients or taking a much needed rest during the working day. For this reason hospitals are striving to simplify the procedures and many of them have implemented efficient hospital information systems and the electronic medical record. Another solution is hiring employees who can reduce the bureaucratic burden of doctors so that medical specialists can delegate to other people the tasks which are not directly related to the treatment of patients.

Physicians want to take into consideration all these factors determining their job satisfaction in the long term. This can turn out to be overwhelming. For this reason, more and more doctors rely on the support of consultancies like Forum der Medizin to make the best possible choice of an employer. This trend is gaining popularity because a team of competent consultants specialized in the career development of physicians can help doctors save time and hassle.

Author: Mariya Dim

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