The therapist shortage, in published numbers
What government statistics say about spa labour: US BLS 2024–34 projections for massage therapists (+15%, median $57,950) and skincare specialists (+7%, $19.98/hr, 14,500 openings a year), and why the therapist shortage is a leadership problem.
Every spa director talks about the therapist shortage. Only one public statistical series measures the workforce it draws from with any rigour, and it is American. Here is what the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects for 2024–34, and how a leader in any market should read it.
The projections
Massage therapists: employment growth 15% over 2024–34, much faster than average, about 25,900 additional jobs; median annual wage $57,950 (May 2024). Skincare specialists: growth 7%; median $19.98 an hour; about 14,500 openings a year from growth and replacement. Sources: BLS OOH, Massage Therapists; BLS OOH, Skincare Specialists.
Reading it as a leader
Demand for therapists grows faster than the economy while training pipelines are flat or shrinking in several markets. A spa cannot fix supply; it can only be the employer therapists choose — pay structure, roster predictability, a visible career ladder and training. Retention is the leadership lever the numbers point to, and it is cheaper than perpetual recruitment.
Other markets
The UK, Canada, Australia and India publish occupational data at coarser levels. Where we cannot find a series that isolates spa roles, we do not invent one; the open salary survey is the desk's attempt to build a cross-market picture from the profession itself.
Questions
Do you have spa manager salary data?
No official series isolates spa managers anywhere we have looked. The salary survey will publish ranges once the sample reaches the threshold stated on that page.
Across the network
Become a spa manager, salaries, jobs
Country-level guides
One email a month, with sources