Impact of COVID-19 on Jobs in Ohio's Health Care Sector

Abstract

Background: This study seeks to measure the impact of COVID-19 on health care jobs in Ohio. We examine whether health care sector workers were similarly affected compared to workers in other industries in Ohio and if there were any significant differences in job categories within the health care sector. Methods: Using a rich dataset provided by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), we study the employment levels for different health care subsectors in Ohio by calculating job creation, destruction, and reallocation rates and analyze the disruption in labor markets caused by COVID-19. Results: Certain health care subsectors such as ambulatory health care services and hospitals recovered almost immediately after the lockdown but are still below their pre-COVID-19 employment levels. The social assistance subsector eventually recovered but also has not reached its pre-COVID-19 employment level. The nursing and residential care subsector has experienced a continuous decline in jobs. Although both job creation and destruction rates reached their relative peaks for all health care subcategories, the gap between pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 levels was higher for job destruction rate. Conclusion: Ohio’s health care sector has not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 lockdown imposed in 2020.