Spotlighting Top Talent in Senior Care in 2026
According to the World Health Organization, one in six people will be 60 or older by 2030, and between 2015 and 2050 the share of the global population over 60 is projected to rise from 12% to 22%. That growth brings an enormous need for caring, experienced, and dedicated professionals in senior care and assisted living.
The scale of the need
The U.S. numbers are just as striking. PHI projects 9.7 million direct care job openings between 2024 and 2034, including roughly 772,000 brand new positions created by growth alone. Many of those openings come from turnover and retirements, which means employers are not just competing for new talent. They are competing to keep the people they already have.
Every level matters
From top-level executives to the people working on the floor every day, each individual plays a role in making sure clients receive compassionate, thorough care that meets their needs with dignity. At Aspen, we are committed to placing top talent at every level, matching the right skills with the right roles to support clients and their families as well as possible.
The pressure on frontline workers is real
These highly qualified professionals directly shape the care clients receive, in jobs that are often demanding mentally, physically, and emotionally. The sector has also been through a rough few years. Voluntary quits in health care and social assistance have eased since their peak, with the annual average quits rate falling from 2.6% in 2022 to 2.0% in 2025. Even so, roughly 467,000 workers in the sector quit in August 2026 alone, according to preliminary BLS figures.
Staffing is where that pressure shows up most. In Q1 2026, about 88% of U.S. nursing homes provided less staffing than their residents’ clinical needs called for, and the average facility ran about 24.6% below expected levels. Easing quit rates are good news, but they do not mean the pressure on frontline workers has gone away.
What clients and employees both want
Recruiting top talent for key roles takes a real understanding of what both clients and employees need, and in many cases those needs overlap. A top concern among senior care professionals is adequate staffing. Caregivers want to do their jobs without skipping breaks, being overscheduled, or burning out. Clients benefit from the same thing. Appropriate staffing means more focus on individual relationships and a much lower chance of oversights and errors.
Keeping talent is part of recruiting it
Top talent wants to see where a role leads. MIT Sloan research found that 67% of surveyed employees want to advance their careers, yet 49% said a lack of good career advice has hurt their trajectory. In nursing homes, CNA turnover was 42.34% in 2025, while top-level executive turnover was 22.12%. Employers who pair clear growth paths with supportive staffing are the ones that hold on to their best people. Spotlighting talent is not only about celebrating who you have. It is about showing candidates what they could become with you.
Why a specialized recruiter helps
Key roles in senior care can call for highly specific qualifications, experience, or other requirements. An expert recruiter like Aspen brings industry knowledge and a deep network, which puts you in a much stronger position in a competitive market. We also save you time and money by pre-screening candidates for the necessary qualifications and confirming they would accept your terms before an offer is ever made.
Learn more about how Aspen works with senior care employers.
The people who make the difference
When it comes to caring professions, frontline workers truly make or break an organization. We could not be prouder to work in an industry filled with such dedicated, hard-working, and skilled people.
By Tom Zeleny, NHA