Spring has historically been one of the most active hiring seasons in healthcare. Budget cycles reset, graduating residents and advanced practice providers begin their job searches, and organizations that delayed hiring decisions in Q1 find themselves racing to fill roles before summer. In 2026, that seasonal surge is colliding with a market that has been anything but predictable.
Here is what we are watching closely heading into Q2, and what it means for healthcare organizations that want to hire well, not just hire fast.
Early Signals Are Encouraging — But the Window Is Short
January 2026 data from iCIMS showed a meaningful uptick in healthcare hiring activity, with clinical job openings up 20% month-over-month and applications up 10%. That renewed candidate interest is a genuine positive. But as iCIMS talent insights leader Trent Cotton noted, openings and applications are still running below where they were in January 2025, meaning the market has not fully recovered.
The organizations that move decisively right now will have a real advantage. Those that wait for conditions to improve further may find themselves competing in a much tighter market by mid-Q2.
At JSC, we are already seeing this play out. When candidate interest rises but hiring processes stay slow, the gap between first contact and offer letter becomes the single biggest reason searches fail. The candidates you want are hearing from multiple organizations simultaneously. Speed and responsiveness are not just nice to have in this market. They are the difference between a successful placement and starting over.
The Provider Shortage Is Not Improving. It Is Concentrating.
The national conversation about physician and APP shortages is not new. What is changing in 2026 is where those shortages are hitting hardest. The American College of Physicians projects a shortfall of 85,000 physicians by 2036, and the pressure is no longer spread evenly across specialties and geographies. It is intensifying in primary care, rural markets, and high-acuity specialties like emergency medicine and surgery.
For healthcare organizations in those markets, Q2 is not the time to take a wait-and-see approach to recruitment. The pipeline of available providers in hard-to-fill locations does not get easier to access as the year progresses. If anything, summer creates additional drag as candidates who are considering a move often prefer to delay transitions until fall.
What this means for your hiring plan: If you have roles that have been open or are anticipated to open in the second half of 2026, starting those searches in Q2 is not getting ahead of yourself. It is doing the math on time-to-fill in a competitive market.
APPs Are Still the Most Flexible Lever You Have
Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and CRNAs continue to be the fastest-growing segment of the clinical workforce, and also the most in-demand. Organizations that have historically been physician-first in their staffing models are increasingly building teams around APP coverage for primary care, urgent care, and specialty support.
This is not a compromise. It is a strategy. APPs bring clinical capability, often faster time-to-hire than physicians, and in many markets, more willingness to practice in underserved or rural settings. Health systems and practices that have leaned into APP-centered team models are reporting better coverage, reduced burnout among their physician staff, and more sustainable long-term staffing plans.
The catch? APP candidates in 2026 know their value. They have options, and they are paying close attention to compensation, culture, and support structures before they accept an offer. If your organization is serious about APP recruitment this spring, compensation benchmarking and a clear picture of what day-to-day practice looks like for your APPs are not optional.
Locum Tenens: From Stopgap to Strategy
Staffing Industry Analysts predicted that locum tenens would see the highest growth among all flexible staffing categories in 2026, and we are watching that play out firsthand. Primary care, emergency medicine, and surgery are seeing the heaviest locum demand, driven by organizations that need immediate coverage while permanent searches are underway.
What has shifted is how organizations are thinking about locum use. A few years ago, locum tenens was largely reactive: a provider left unexpectedly, and locums filled the gap. Today, more health systems and groups are building locum coverage into their workforce strategy from the start, using it to maintain patient volume and revenue during transitions, test new service lines before committing to permanent hires, and reduce burnout on existing teams by creating schedule flexibility.
The organizations asking ‘should we use locums?’ are already behind the ones asking ‘how do we use locums more strategically?’
JSC offers both permanent placement and locum tenens coverage, which means we can help you think through the right combination for your current needs rather than treating them as separate decisions.
What Q2 Requires From Your Organization
The candidates you want to hire this spring are not sitting idle waiting for your posting. They are employed, fielding multiple conversations, and making decisions quickly. The organizations that hire well in Q2 2026 share a few things in common.
They start early. Not when the need becomes urgent, but when the need becomes visible. A search that begins in March has a fundamentally different outcome than one that begins in May.
They move fast when it matters. When a strong candidate is presented, feedback comes within days, not weeks. Candidates who go three weeks without hearing anything after an interview are almost always already in late stages with someone else.
They are honest about what they are offering. Compensation, location, culture, and support structures all factor into a candidate’s decision. Organizations that are realistic about their positioning can work with a recruiter to identify candidates who are genuinely excited about the opportunity, not just open to it.
They treat recruiting as a partnership. The searches that produce the best results are the ones where the client and the recruiting team are in consistent communication, moving together toward the same goal.
A Note on Q2 From the JSC Team
Spring is our busiest and often most productive season. We are actively working searches across physician, APP, executive, and allied health categories, and we are having more early-stage conversations with clients who want to get ahead of their second-half hiring needs.
If you have roles that need to be filled this year and you have not yet started a search, now is the right time to have that conversation. Not because we want to rush you, but because the market will not wait.
Reach out to schedule a free consultation. We would love to understand what you are navigating and talk through what a realistic plan looks like for your organization.
[email protected] | (866) 750-7231 | jordansc.com
Sources
iCIMS Insights February 2026 Workforce Report — icims.com
American College of Physicians, Physician Shortage Projections — acponline.org
Staffing Industry Analysts, 2026 Healthcare Staffing Trends — staffingindustry.com
American Hospital Association, 2025 Health Care Workforce Scan — aha.org
MRINetwork, Five Workforce Trends Reshaping Healthcare in 2026 — mrinetwork.com
