Companies across industries are hiring chief medical officers. Should you?

After over two years of a global pandemic, the public perception of health and safety has undoubtedly shifted, as has employers’ role in keeping their workforce safe and healthy. 

In 2021, chief medical officer job postings increased by 18.7%, according to data from Eden Health. That number is only estimated to keep growing through 2022. Delta Airlines, Pepsi and Tyson Foods are just a few large companies that have already made the position permanent in their C-suite.

“The pandemic underscored the need for a different way to think about health and our health system, and some real safety issues at the work site,” says Andrew Morton, CEO of Bloom Health, an occupational health and technology provider. “Employee health has always been a benefit. But now it has to be a function of operations.” 

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More than 37 million adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response, offices have begun re-opening their doors and offering hybrid work models that allow employees to venture back to physical office spaces. But even with growing vaccination rates, 66% of employees said they were “worried about their health and safety” when returning to work, according to a 2021 study conducted by software company Envoy. 

“Employees are now taking a second look at where they work and they're taking into consideration health and safety as a component of their job,” Morton says. “What a CMO does is exactly that — they are that inwardly focused executive that thinks about the health and welfare of the employees.” 

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Beyond vaccine initiatives and COVID tests, chief medical officers also implement programs to promote health within the employee base, according to Morton. From initiatives as basic as wellness programs to more advanced initiatives like on-site clinics or preventative primary-care benefits and technologies, CMOs may be poised to bring holistic health to organizations, regardless of industry. 

“The more critical component of any company is always going to be the human resources,” Morton says. “People are your asset, so why aren't we taking care of them?”