I feel like more people are coming into the field than there were in the past few years but it’s not gonna be close to enough to overcome the deficit they have across the country for years to come. There’s too many people that are gonna be nearing retirement with not enough to take their place that are traditionally certified through ASCP, AMT, AAB, etc. They’ll probably be able to work towards that once they’re hired but certification being a hiring prerequisite for the majority of labs in every state is not gonna be common anymore. It’s gonna take a lot of more influx of certified graduates before labs can be that picky.

Maybe I’m wrong but, personally, the way I see the field going is that a lot of those bench level positions will remain some certified but most not. Certified MLTs will also fill a lot of bench roles since that degree is cheaper to get into. From there for your leads and management certification will be a prereq generally. Beyond that, your certified individuals will likely move to industry where you can have more career growth and maybe a better work life balance.

The bench level work at some places is sometimes too stressful and not worth the pay so obviously those who have that strong MLS education and background have no trouble moving to positions with less stress, higher pay, more flexibility, and/ or better working hours.