Whether you’re a registered nurse providing patient care or a scientist developing a lifesaving medical device, Irvine has a job for you.
The city’s thriving health sector helps explain why Irvine continues to create “more jobs than any other city” in the region, according to a new study by the Orange County Business Council (OCBC).
High demand for nurses
Registered nurses are the county’s most in-demand profession, with about 22,000 job postings last year, says the study, OCBC’s annually published Community Indicators Report.
Irvine’s health care institutions – Hoag Irvine, UCI Health, Kaiser Permanente, MemorialCare Medical Group and City of Hope – drive much of this demand, employing thousands of registered nurses. What’s more, nurses’ prospects are sure to improve, considering new investments, totaling close to $4 billion, in new and expanded local health care centers. Hoag Irvine is doubling its number of hospital beds, while UCI Health and City of Hope are each investing $1 billion in new facilities.
A med-tech boom
The med-tech industry is an additional driver of Irvine’s “best-in-county” job market. Medtronic, the world’s largest neurovascular company, provides an example of Irvine’s robust med-tech growth – and the attractions that draw companies like it to the city. It is headquartered in UCI Research Park, a 185acre campus that is connected to UC Irvine.
“The partnership potential at UCI Research Park is limitless,” says Medtronic’s Dan Volz, president of Medtronic Neurovascular. “We’re creating a community of thought leaders, sharing best practices, and working through challenges together.”
Medtronic and other global giants such as Edwards Lifesciences and AbbVie have spawned hundreds of smaller companies to serve the med-tech industry. This phenomenon, known as “agglomeration,” promotes the rapid spread of new ideas and a concentrated talent pool from which businesses can recruit – while also helping create hundreds of high-quality jobs in Irvine.
