Senior Care Recruitment: Finding the Right Fit

One in six Americans, or 55.8 million people, is 65 and over. During the last century, the older population has grown nearly five times faster than the total population and has no plans of slowing down.

This has led to a significant increase in family caregivers. Today, more than one in five people care for a loved one. However, while most family caregivers want to provide their elderly relatives with the best care possible, many lack the financial resources and emotional resilience.

Caring for an elderly loved one is the ultimate labor of love.

Family caregivers are often susceptible to burnout, isolation, and bank accounts that are stretched too thin. According to AARP, the average out-of-pocket cost to care for a loved one is $7,200 annually.

Many families turn to in-home care agencies to overcome these challenges and provide compassionate, dignified care solutions to their senior loved ones. But with over three-fourths of elderly adults wanting to age in place at home, the demand for certified care professionals is outpacing the supply.

Heart & Home Senior Care, an in-home care provider operating throughout central New Jersey, is no stranger to the senior care staffing shortage. Not only did Heart & Home have trouble finding certified home health aides (CHHAs) with the right bedside manners, but they also struggled to retain their existing top talent.

Luckily for Heart & Home, they overcame both obstacles with a seasoned senior care recruitment partner.

What follows is a powerful reminder that the right people, in the right roles, make all the difference.

The Challenge: Growing Demand Meets Staffing Shortages

Heart & Home Senior Care isn’t the only in-home care agency experiencing staffing and retention challenges. With the elderly population on track to reach 73 million by 2030, the need for in-home care specialists will continue growing. And with 60% of caregivers experiencing burnout, many qualified professionals are leaving the field altogether.

The senior care staffing shortage and sky-high industry turnover have left many home care agencies feeling the heat.

Some of these organizations’ most critical pain points are:

• More residents meant more complex care needs, especially as the population skewed older and more medically vulnerable. Staff are being asked to do more with less — more medications to manage, more mobility assistance, more one-on-one time — all with fewer hands on deck. 

• High turnover created a cycle of instability. As team members leave, the remaining staff are forced to pick up extra shifts, increasing the risk of burnout and further attrition. New hires often lacked proper onboarding due to time constraints, making it harder to succeed or stay long-term.
• Recruiting became reactive rather than strategic. Internal HR teams are inundated with urgent requests to fill open roles. Instead of focusing on proactive talent sourcing or employee engagement initiatives, they can get bogged down by constant job postings, resume reviews, and scheduling interviews, often for candidates who weren’t a good fit or never show up to interviews.

At Heart & Home, the staffing crunch began to impact the organization’s quality of care. Call lights went unanswered longer. Clients saw new faces every week. Team morale dropped, and families started to notice.

Heart & Home’s leadership knew this wasn’t sustainable. Maintaining regulatory compliance, client satisfaction, and staff well-being required more than just filling shifts. They needed a new approach that could bring stability, skill, and heart back into their workforce.

The Solution: A Strategic Senior Care Recruitment Partnership

Recognizing that traditional hiring efforts were no longer enough, Heart & Home reached out to a healthcare staffing firm with deep expertise in senior care recruitment. From the first conversation, it was clear this wouldn’t be a transactional relationship. It would be a true partnership.

The healthcare recruiters began by listening. They met with Heart & Home’s leadership, HR, and care teams to understand their unique needs. This included not just job descriptions but also the organization’s culture, team dynamics, and qualities that made someone successful in their environment.

From there, the recruitment strategy unfolded in three key ways:

Access to a Pre-Qualified Talent Network

The senior care recruitment firm brought a curated pipeline of licensed professionals who had already been vetted for qualifications, background checks, and licensing. This eliminated the weeks often spent in early-stage screening and allowed Heart & Home to connect with ready-to-work professionals faster.

Culture-First Candidate Matching

Beyond clinical credentials, the recruitment partner focused on matching candidates to Heart & Home’s values and mission. For them, empathy, teamwork, and dependability were just as important as years of experience. By aligning candidates to the culture, not just the role, new hires were more likely to integrate quickly and stay longer.

Streamlined Hiring and Onboarding

With an experienced recruitment firm managing the front end of the hiring process, Heart & Home’s internal HR teams could focus on creating better onboarding experiences. The firm’s quick turnaround on candidate recommendations significantly reduced the average time-to-fill for open roles. Where it once took 30+ days to hire, some positions were now being filled in under two weeks.

The Outcome: Strengthening Teams, Elevating Care

The impact of this partnership was both immediate and long-lasting. Within months, Heart & Home began seeing measurable improvements across key metrics:

Reduced Turnover

Because candidates were better matched to the job's demands and environment, new hires were more likely to stay. First-year turnover dropped by 20%, relieving pressure on existing staff and lowering the cost of constant recruiting.

Faster Onboarding

Streamlined processes allowed new hires to hit the ground running. With clear role expectations and early mentorship, caregivers reached full productivity faster, often within their first 30 days.

Improved Team Morale

Stabilizing the team had ripple effects. Heart & Home’s existing team no longer felt chronically short-handed, and leadership could shift from crisis management to proactive support. Morale began to improve, as did collaboration and communication.

Consistent, High-Quality Care

With the right people in place and fewer disruptions in staffing, care delivery became more consistent. Clients and families noticed, and satisfaction surveys showed a marked increase in positive feedback around responsiveness, communication, and personal attention.

Providing the Care Seniors Deserve and the Talent Your Organization Needs

Seniors deserve to live out their golden years comfortably, safely, and with dignity. To make that possible, senior care agencies must obtain and retain empathetic and licensed care professionals.

Hire Health provides personalized, innovative senior care recruitment solutions to help your organization hire top-tier caregivers. Contact us today to learn how.