While healthcare job gains drove overall U.S. employment growth in December, the sector’s momentum has slowed below its 2024 and 2025 averages.
Healthcare added an average of 56,000 jobs per month in 2024, but that figure fell to 34,000 in 2025. December saw just 21,100 new jobs in the sector, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
One factor affecting employment across industries is artificial intelligence. While concerns about mass job loss due to AI have grown, healthcare has been largely insulated so far. Still, the technology has already reached hospitals and health systems, Sunil Dadlani, executive vice president and chief information, digital and cybersecurity officer of Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System, told Becker’s in August.
“From clinical decision support to revenue cycle automation, AI is already augmenting workflows, accelerating diagnosis and streamlining administrative tasks,” Mr. Dadlani said. “Roles in medical coding, documentation, scheduling, and even elements of diagnostics are increasingly supported — or replaced — by intelligent systems.”
AI was the second most common reason cited for layoffs in October across industries, according to a November report. The technology contributed to 48,414 job cuts between January and October, including 31,039 in October alone, the report said.
Hospitals and health systems employ workers in roles both most and least affected by AI. Customer service representatives and telephone operators rank among the top 10 occupations most threatened by the technology, according to a Microsoft study. By contract, nursing assistants and phlebotomists were among those least likely to be threatened.
“There is no question that AI is a powerful, transformative technology that will redefine how we work and shape the future across every industry,” Kristin Myers, executive vice president and chief digital officer of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, told Becker’s in August. “While it may fully replace certain administrative roles and functions, I believe its greater impact will be in augmenting our work, not replacing it.”
Several policy changes are also affecting hiring at hospitals and health systems. Three healthcare organizations have announced job cuts in 2026, including Pomona (Calif.) Valley Hospital Medical Center, which plans to eliminate 265 positions due to state and federal funding reductions. In 2025, more than 90 hospitals and health systems planned job cuts, including Oakland, Calif.-based Alameda Health System, which cited funding cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in its December decision to cut 296 jobs.
Uncertainty surrounding a new $100,000 fee tied to H-1B visa applications is also influencing hiring. As teaching hospitals await confirmation of potential exemptions for physicians and medical residents, many are deploying contingency plans. These include hiring more physician assistants, paying the fee for a reduced number of residents or reconsidering candidates who require H-1B sponsorship.
“We’re going to be as creative as we can to keep the workforce going,” Eric Appelbaum, DO, senior executive vice president and COO of New York City-based SBH Health System, told AAMC News.
Some systems, including Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Washington, also momentarily paused international recruitment and H-1B work visa sponsorship in October following the implementation of the new fee.
