Salary and Hiring Trends in Healthcare AEC
The healthcare sector offers immense career opportunity for top talent in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) space today. But for skilled professionals exploring roles designing, building, or overseeing complex hospital facilities, and recruiters aiming to attract them, it also pays to understand key salary and hiring trends.
Healthcare AEC Salaries
First, healthcare AEC salaries skew higher overall than average commercial construction roles. Top earners can make north of $250K annually, reflecting senior-level expertise and specialization. For example, healthcare architects with 5-9 years’ experience make a median salary of $102,000 rising to $133,000 at the principal level. Healthcare construction managers average slightly lower in the $97-$129K range mid-career.
Drilling down, the most lucrative salaries tend to be found working for large hospitals and health networks (which can pay 20% more for niche skills), followed by architecture/engineering firms specializing in just healthcare facility design. Builders and project managers focused on major medical builds also see higher than normal wages from healthcare clients investing heavily in new square footage.
Hiring Demand Remains Robust
From a hiring demand lens, healthcare construction is on a bull run thanks to trends like aging infrastructure needing replacement and outpatient expansion in growing suburbs. The over 65 population is set to double in coming decades, fueling more healthcare construction activity than any other industry per Bureau of Labor Statistics projections.
Even amidst economic uncertainty, experts predict hiring to remain robust for engineers, project managers, superintendents and other key roles those complex medical builds require. Positions tied to service lines seeing rapid technology changes, like surgery, imaging, and telehealth enablement are especially recruiting competitive.
The Best Time to Look for a New Job
For AEC pros looking, spring and summer tend to be most active healthcare hiring seasons as health systems finalize capital budgets and construction firms staff up for peak building season. However, modular methods like prefabrication are balancing workflows and extending peak demand for skilled subcontractors.
In terms of talent priorities beyond technical capabilities, healthcare clients also place a premium on construction professionals with specialized medical build experience, strong project management skills, and intrinsic passion for enhancing care delivery via the designed environment.
Conclusion
Bottom line – while compensation can fluctuate across regions and specialties, scarce healthcare construction expertise continues to command strong salary packages and career options amid a sea of hospital modernization plans. This creates fertile ground for recruiters who understand healthcare’s unique demands and can effectively match talent to opportunities improving how communities receive care built to last. Contact us to learn more.