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Global survey reveals worsening post-COVID healthcare staffing crisis

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Global survey reveals worsening post-COVID healthcare staffing crisis
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Rajendra Kumar Acharya UNI Asia & Pacific Regional Secretary | UNI Global Union

A new global survey of care workers reveals a worsening staffing crisis in the health and care sectors, with nearly 70% of workers frequently understaffed and over a third (36.4%) always working short-handed. Released on the fifth anniversary of the W.H.O.’s COVID-19 pandemic declaration, the UNI Global Union report—based on responses from 11,233 workers across 63 countries—highlights a care system still in turmoil. Despite being hailed as heroes, care workers face chronic understaffing, low wages, and increasing workplace violence, driving many out of the profession and leaving patients at risk. Workers without union protections are even more severely affected by this trend.

UNI warns that these conditions are driving workers away from the sector, exacerbating a crisis that governments and employers have failed to address. The survey indicates that union membership and collective bargaining significantly improve worker retention and satisfaction.

Safe staffing levels are crucial for high-quality care and safer work environments, but chronic shortages in hospitals and care homes undermine patient health—even causing preventable deaths. For care workers, understaffing leads to poor morale, increased workplace violence and injury rates, and high turnover.

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“Five years after the pandemic, care workers are still being overworked, underpaid and exposed to dangerous conditions,” said Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union. “This report is a wake-up call. Without immediate action to raise wages, improve staffing levels, and combat workplace violence, care systems will collapse. ”

“There is no shortage of care workers—there is a shortage of care workers willing to endure low pay, chronic understaffing and unsafe conditions,” said Alan Sable, Head of Care for UNI Global Union. “The care staffing crisis cannot be solved simply by training new workers or recruiting migrant care workers. Unless we address the core issues driving people out of the sector— low wages, understaffing and widespread violence and harassment—the cycle of worker shortages and declining care quality will continue. ”

UNI Global Union is calling on governments and employers to act now with urgent reforms:

- Higher wages and better benefits to make care jobs sustainable.

- Mandatory safe staffing levels to prevent burnout.

- Stronger protections against workplace violence including ratification of ILO Convention 190.

- Fair treatment for migrant workers who face disproportionate discrimination.

- Support for union representation which improves working conditions.

Increased public funding for the care sector is also needed to ensure quality services.

Real-life accounts from frontline workers expose the human toll of this crisis:

United Kingdom (Hospital worker) – “People being bullied... because we are so short-staffed.”

New Zealand (Caregiver) – “I was sexually assaulted twice by a resident... That occurred because of being short staffed. ”

Kenya (Hospital Nurse) – “Working with so little equipment... We’re failing, badly. And the government doesn’t care.”

Canada (Aged Care Worker) – “Every government has promised to make Healthcare a priority... They have not other than extra paperwork.”

Austria (Nurse) – “Everyone has said that a massive wave of pensions is coming... I now know eight colleagues who have given up nursing.”

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep structural failures in healthcare—failures that led to tens of thousands of preventable deaths. Five years later those failures remain dangerously ignored. UNI Global Union’s report underscores: without urgent action\, already strained systems will crumble further risking lives.

This research was supported by the CARE Fund and Ford Foundation.

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