# Leaving the health workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study among Filipino healthcare workers

## TL;DR

This study explores why Filipino healthcare workers left their jobs during the pandemic, highlighting burnout, stress, and low pay as key factors.

## Contribution

The study provides insights into the specific reasons for healthcare worker attrition in the Philippines during the early stages of the pandemic.

## Key findings

- Most healthcare workers cited work overload, burnout, and stress as reasons for quitting.
- Low salary and insufficient compensation were frequently mentioned as contributing factors.
- Participants proposed solutions like better pay, reduced workload, and improved workplace safety to retain workers.

## Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the shortage of healthcare workers (HCWs), particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to examine why hospital-based HCWs in the Philippines quit from their workplace at a time when HCWs were urgently needed to provide health services. Using an online, self-administered questionnaire distributed through personal and professional networks, we surveyed hospital-based Filipino HCWs who resigned between March 11, 2020, and September 15, 2021. We obtained demographics, workplace information, reasons for quitting, and proposed interventions. Among 70 valid responses, most of the HCWs were single (74%), female (59%), and without children (81%). More than half were nurses (31%) and physicians (29%). Most participants had one to five years of work experience (71%), worked in level 3 hospitals (70%), and had a schedule that required them to report for duty shifts for more than 8 hours (76%). While the majority of the HCWs were worried about the COVID-19 pandemic due to the risk of infection, the most frequent reasons for quitting were work overload/burnout, stress, and insufficient salary. To encourage workforce retention, the HCWs proposed increasing monetary compensation and non-salary incentives, cultivating a positive workplace culture, ensuring a reasonable workload, providing clear opportunities for career advancement, and improving workplace safety. These findings can guide ministries of health, policymakers, hospital administrators, health worker unions, and other stakeholders when planning for and responding to national or global health crises.