APTA Reports Reveal Workforce TrendsAPTA | By Keith Loria Three recent reports give APTA and its members data on the demographics, wages, and vacancies in the profession. What with the tail of a global pandemic, shifting dynamics between employers and employees, economic uncertainty, and emerging artificial intelligence technologies, the U.S. workforce is in a state of disruption. Add in continuing examination of health care reform as the nation attempts to make services more accessible, more affordable, and with better outcomes, and health care in particular — physical therapy even more specifically — faces mounting challenges. To that end, APTA has taken measures to understand and improve the physical therapy workforce, releasing several reports based on data from its latest periodic practice profile surveys and other sources. In 2023 alone, three such reports were released and are freely available to all APTA members. These include in-depth reports on the demographics, wages, and outpatient clinic vacancy rates in the profession. But these reports are more than just numbers on a page. In getting a greater sense of the profession and its workers, APTA is using the data and results to inform advocacy efforts, increase diversity in the profession, and encourage salary transparency. So what does that mean for you? It's clear from the reports that APTA membership largely reflects the physical therapy profession as a whole — something APTA has long assumed but until now didn't have evidence to back the claim — but it also points to some challenges and holes in the workforce. Here's a look at the reports and how APTA staff and members are using them to benefit the profession and inform the association's work on members' behalf. |