The Workforce Challenge in Clinical Labs: What’s Next for the Profession (Part 2)
Part 2 of a 2 part series addressing laboratory workforce shortages
The shortage of medical laboratory scientists and technicians has been a long-simmering issue. Like nurses, physicians, and pathologists, laboratorians face a simple but daunting reality: there are far more job openings than qualified applicants to fill them. The lab workforce shortage reflects broader challenges in healthcare—burnout, declining job satisfaction, lack of recognition, and the aging population of workers—all magnified by the surge in testing volumes since the pandemic.
No matter how you slice it, there aren’t enough students entering the pipeline to replace those retiring or leaving the field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 22,000 openings are projected each year (BLS, 2024), yet only about 4,900 students graduate annually. That’s a staggering 50–60% shortfall—a gap that threatens the capacity of labs to keep up with demand (Robinson & Rohde, 2024).
Lack of Professional Understanding: The Invisible Workforce
If you ask someone on the street, “What is a medical laboratory scientist?” most wouldn’t know. The profession remains largely invisible—an unknown workforce hidden between the moment your blood is drawn and the test results appearing in your electronic chart. For most patients, lab results feel like a seamless, faceless process. What’s missing is recognition of the thousands of professionals working behind the curtain to generate the data that drives over 70% of medical decisions.
This invisibility creates a major barrier to recruiting new talent. If students don’t know the career exists, they can’t pursue it. To secure the future, the laboratory industry must move beyond the shadows and tell its story more boldly. Professional organizations, academic programs, and healthcare leaders alike need to treat this as a rebranding moment—launching media campaigns, outreach to schools, and putting a human face on the science that underpins patient care.
Raising Awareness and Building the Pipeline
If the profession is to survive and thrive, the first step is making medical laboratory science visible. James Payne, Medical Laboratory Assisting and Phlebotomy Instructor for high school juniors and seniors at the BOCES2 CTE Center, Spencerport, New York, prescribes a 4-tier process to build a pipeline of potential laboratory workers. It starts in high school with introduction of lab concepts, taking students to real-life labs, full day shadowing and internships (AMT Blog, 2025). More Outreach programs for high schools, colleges and universities that provide shadowing opportunities, and partnerships with STEM programs can spark interest early. Imagine a student fascinated by biology but unaware of laboratory careers available to them—until a lab professional visits their classroom or mentors them during a science fair. That’s how seeds get planted early to build the next generation of laboratory scientists.
Professional organizations like ASCLS, ASCP, AMT, NILA and others have worked to bring more awareness to the workforce shortages, but the scale must be larger. A national rebranding campaign could highlight the critical role labs play in diagnosis, cancer care, infectious disease surveillance, and public health. Without that awareness, the pipeline of students will never catch up to the workforce demand.
The Role of Automation and AI
Technology is often positioned as one of the solutions to mitigate a portion of workforce shortages. And yes—automation, middleware, and now AI can reduce manual tasks and speed up routine testing. AI-assisted prompts and result review flagging is already here, promising to ease the burden on overworked laboratorians.
But here’s the truth: machines and instruments don’t replace laboratorians—they extend them. The more sophisticated the tools, the more we need highly trained professionals to validate, interpret, and ensure quality. A robot may pipette samples, but it cannot explain an unexpected result to a physician or troubleshoot a complex molecular assay.
The future lies in blending human expertise with smart technology, not in choosing one over the other.
Compensation, Recognition, and Retention
Recruiting more students into the laboratory profession is essential—but it won’t solve the problem if we can’t retain the talent we already have. Many laboratorians point to stagnant wages and limited recognition compared to other healthcare fields as reasons for leaving. Nurses and pharmacists enjoy greater visibility with the public and often higher pay, even though laboratorians carry equally critical responsibilities in patient care. What’s missing for labs is that face-to-face connection with patients, the human interaction that reinforces value and builds trust. To close this gap, laboratories must find new ways to bridge recognition with the communities they serve—telling their story more openly and positioning the laboratory as an indispensable partner in the healthcare continuum.
For real change, healthcare systems must:
Raise wages to commensurate with other healthcare professions.
Offer career advancement opportunities beyond bench work (e.g., data science, quality management, molecular diagnostics).
Invest in well-being, addressing burnout with staffing support, flexible scheduling, and mental health resources.
Retention isn’t just about money—it’s about respect, visibility, and professional growth.
Policy and Advocacy
Finally, there’s the role of policy. Federal and state governments have a history of cutting support for allied health programs, which helped create the shortage decades ago. That cycle must end. Investments in training grants, loan forgiveness, and incentives for hospitals to sponsor clinical placements could make a huge difference.
The joint partnership of ACLA and ASCLS in lobbying efforts have paid off recently. A national clinical laboratory workforce act has been introduced into Congress on September 17, 2025, by Deborah Ross (NC-02) and Jen Kiggans (VA-02). The aptly named act – Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2025, would provide access to the National Service Corps for medical laboratory personnel. The act would establish federal grants and funding for training to Universities and College programs.
Professional organizations must continue lobbying for funding, fair reimbursement for lab testing, and recognition of laboratorians as essential healthcare workers. COVID showed the world what happens when labs are overwhelmed—it’s time to act before the next crisis overburdens the current workforce.
Closing Thoughts
The laboratory workforce shortage is decades in the making, The future must include changes to our systems to support a strong generation of laboratory workers. With visibility, technology integration, fair compensation, and strong advocacy, the profession can build a strong foundation to of clinical laboratories with trained experts. The lab must step out of the shadows—and into the spotlight where it belongs.
Reference
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, September 4). Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/clinical-laboratory-technologists-and-technicians.htm
Robinson, Angela Tomei, and Rodney E. Rohde. “Workforce in the Shadow of Healthcare – An Update on the Survival Status of Laboratory Medicine and Public Health.” Biomed J Sci & Tech Res 54, no. 5 (2024). DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2024.54.008604 Biomedres+1
American Medical Technologists. (2023, September 19). Building tomorrow’s lab workforce. American Medical Technologists. https://americanmedtech.org/blog/blog-post/building-tomorrows-lab-workforce