Retirement rates of medical laboratory professionals are increasing, leaving a significant gap to fill with the next generation of laboratory personnel. The medical laboratory profession needs to advocate for better salaries for laboratory personnel at the local and national levels as it develops recruitment and retention strategies, according to the newly released ASCP 2019 Wage Survey Report.
Conducted every two years, the ASCP Wage Survey serves as the primary source for industry, labor, government, and academic institutions. A total of 19,397 responses were received in this year’s wage survey, a 32.6 percent increase in participation over the 2017 survey.
The results of the 2019 Wage Survey show an overall increase in salaries for most laboratory occupations surveyed except cytogenetic technologists, laboratory information systems personnel, and performance improvement or quality assurance personnel.
“Laboratory medicine is a rapidly evolving field,” said Karen Brown, MASCP, MLS(ASCP)CM, who served as a reviewer for the survey. “I was encouraged to see that wages have increased for almost all the categories, although it was surprising to see that while there are many women working in the labs, men are still earning slightly higher salaries overall.”
Geographically, laboratory professionals from urban areas where there is greater demand earned more than their rural counterparts. “It’s the rural areas, however, that tend to have more trouble attracting staff,” Ms. Brown noted.
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