The SF economy is being carried by one industry these days—and it’s not AI

By Kevin V. Nguyen : sfstandard – excerpt

In the 2010s, San Francisco’s economy was defined by the meteoric rise of tech firms, which attracted thousands of new workers, filling up office spaces and city coffers. That wave has since receded, making way for an industry that never left to shoulder the city’s economy.

Healthcare remains the brightest spot in the local job market, which has shed 9,100 jobs compared to the year prior, according to the latest data from California’s Employment Development Department.

But that number would have been far worse if not for the 7,500 healthcare jobs that San Mateo and San Francisco counties have added between April 2023 and April 2024.

The industry’s pivotal role in helping to sustain the economy is even more stark at the state level. Had it not been for the 178,700 jobs the healthcare industry added, California would have failed to log any job gains at all over the last year…

Staffing crisis

Despite the positive job growth, a grim truth for healthcare professionals is that the figure is inextricably tied to the industry’s record-level turnover. An NSI Nursing Solutions Inc. survey of 200 hospitals around the country found the turnover rate for registered nurses jumped from 18.7% in 2020 to 27.1% in 2021.

California has the largest number of licensed registered nurses, accounting for nearly 10% of the country’s total. Meanwhile, the number of candidates nationally who passed the nursing licensure exam have steadily increased, with 183,682 passing their license exam in 2019 and over 250,000 doing so in 2023.

“There is no nursing shortage,” said a spokesperson for National Nurses United, a union of registered nurses. “What we have is a staffing crisis, where experienced colleagues are leaving their hospital or the bedside altogether in search of a more sustainable profession after repeatedly working under conditions that are unsafe for themselves and their patients.”…(more)