Jobs in PA: How Careers to Love is Amplifying Senior Living Recruitment in 2023

A lot of people say that they “fell” into senior living. It’s less common for someone to choose this career path outright, and yet, time and time again we hear from individuals who found themselves in this field and never want to leave. They find purpose and community and know that this is a place where they can make a difference.  

With workforce shortages consistently topping the challenges for our members, we knew we needed to find a unique strategy to recruit more people to the field of aging services. We set out to find people who have never considered a career in senior living and convince them to picture themselves on this rewarding career path.  

Explore Careers in PA 

LeadingAge PA has been hard at work over the last three years developing, launching, and refining the Careers to Love campaign, an effort aimed at raising the profile of jobs in the aging services sector and educating potential jobseekers about the benefits of working in senior living. What started as a one-day event back in 2021 has grown into a robust digital campaign and a dedicated web presence plus job search platform to share the positives of working in the sector to our target audiences and match them to “jobs near me”.  

We’ve re-developed the website, CareersToLovePA.org, to be a stand-alone site that can be used through the year as our team works to educate legislators, community colleges, and vo-tech schools about the breadth of aging services jobs in Pennsylvania. This website educates individuals, not only about the different career options available to them in the field, but also about the education and training requirements of each of those options. We showcase the many advancement opportunities available in aging services, and feature each of our members in a zip code search, so any website visitor can find career opportunities near them with just a few clicks. 

Opening Doors to the Aging Services Workforce 

In addition to LeadingAge PA’s efforts, LeadingAge National recently created a workforce enhancement initiative entitled Opening Doors to the Aging Services Workforce. In collaboration with a research agency, LeadingAge national conducted numerous focus groups with individuals who have never considered a career in senior living. These efforts resulted in concrete, actionable strategies about how best to introduce the world of aging services to prospective candidates. LeadingAge PA has utilized the data and research from Opening Doors to Aging Services to inform our 2023 strategy for Careers to Love PA. 

By combining these two initiatives, we are poised to increase our members’ visibility with our target audiences and employ a research-driven approach to how we present careers in the field. These efforts also allow us to leverage our members’ collective voice and highlight the countless benefits of a career in aging services. We are thrilled by the work that has been started, and we look forward with hope and determination to continue to share the mission of our members and bolster the aging services workforce.