ASCP 2024 Vacancy Survey Shows Laboratory Staffing Shortages Persist Despite Pandemic-Era Gains
Vacancy rates in U.S. medical laboratories have declined since COVID-19 highs, but ASCP’s latest survey finds staffing levels remain well above pre-pandemic norms as retirements accelerate and recruitment challenges deepen.
The American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) 2024 Vacancy Survey shows that staffing conditions inside U.S. medical laboratories have improved modestly since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic but remain unresolved. Vacancy rates have declined compared with 2020–2022, yet they are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, underscoring persistent recruitment and retention challenges that continue to affect laboratory operations nationwide.
Conducted every two years for the past 37 years, the ASCP Vacancy Survey is the most widely cited barometer of workforce conditions in laboratory medicine. The 2024 survey gathered responses from 1,027 laboratory leaders and human resources professionals, representing staffing data for 18,626 laboratory employees across the United States. Participants came from hospitals of all sizes, reference laboratories, academic medical centers, public health laboratories, blood centers, government facilities, and industry settings.
Retirements Accelerate as Workforce Recovery Remains Uneven
“Although vacancy rates are lower than those reported during the pandemic, laboratories are still operating under sustained workforce pressure,” the authors wrote. “The data suggest that recovery has been uneven and incomplete.”
Retirement trends emerged as a major concern. Ten of the 17 laboratory departments included in the survey reported rising retirement rates compared with previous cycles. As experienced professionals exit the workforce, laboratories face the dual challenge of replacing technical expertise while maintaining service levels amid already-elevated vacancy rates. Survey authors warned that retirements are accelerating faster than the pipeline of newly trained professionals entering the field.
Image by David Jones from Pixabay
AI Readiness and Workforce Gaps Vary Widely Across Laboratories
“Continued challenges in recruitment, combined with increasing retirements, pose a serious risk to long-term workforce stability,” the report stated. Without intervention, ASCP cautioned that shortages could deepen, particularly in highly specialized laboratory disciplines.
The survey also sheds light on how laboratory leaders are thinking about artificial intelligence. Respondents most frequently cited “adapting to emerging technologies” as their top concern related to AI adoption.
However, enthusiasm for AI’s potential to transform laboratory operations remains strong. Laboratories that had already implemented AI tools or provided AI training to staff reported significantly more optimism and confidence.
“Enthusiasm about AI was notably higher in laboratories that demonstrated AI proficiency among laboratory professionals and other experts,” the authors noted, suggesting that education and hands-on experience play a critical role in shaping perceptions of new technology.
Geographic and departmental trends further highlight workforce disparities. Blood bank and transfusion medicine departments accounted for the largest share of reported personnel, while flow cytometry represented the smallest. Regionally, the South Central Atlantic reported the highest participation, while the Central Southwest reported the lowest. The states with the most respondents were New York, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and California.
Testing volumes varied widely. Nearly 40% of respondents reported performing more than 100,000 clinical pathology tests annually, while fewer than one in five laboratories reported anatomic pathology volumes exceeding 50,000 cases per year, reflecting the diverse operational scales represented in the data.
New Analytics Underscore Urgent Need for Laboratory Workforce Advocacy
The 2024 survey also marked a methodological shift. ASCP transitioned its analysis from traditional statistical software to Python-based data processing, allowing for more flexible analysis and integration of qualitative feedback. According to the authors, this change enhances reproducibility and aligns the survey with modern data-science practices increasingly used in healthcare analytics.
Ultimately, the report calls for urgent, coordinated action. ASCP emphasized the need for stronger advocacy for laboratory professionals, expanded credentialing pathways, and increased investment in education and training programs. “There is an urgent need for advocacy on behalf of laboratory professionals and an increase in the number of laboratory education and training programs,” the authors stated.
For laboratory executives and pathologists, the message is clear: while the worst of the pandemic staffing crisis may be over, structural workforce challenges remain unresolved and without sustained attention, they threaten the long-term resilience of the nation’s diagnostic infrastructure.
—Janette Wider
