- Key insight: Discover how a guaranteed-compensation model and good benefits can shift hiring economics.
- What's at stake: Staffing shortfalls threaten patient access, clinic capacity and long-term revenue growth.
- Supporting data: About 14,000 certified audiologists serving 61.2 million U.S. adults aged 65+.
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
The healthcare industry has faced years of
At hearing-care company MLM Hearing, keeping its 165 clinics well staffed with
"We want to make sure we never become a parking spot for anyone — people just buying time, getting some experience and always looking for something else," Hadar says. "The audiologists we're hiring have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources, and they need to see a return on that investment."
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The challenge
Demand for hearing services is anticipated to grow, as Johns Hopkins reports that about a third of adults aged 65-74 have hearing loss, and this number increases with age. In 2024, the Census Bureau reported the number of adults over age 65 to be 61.2 million.
According to the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, there are around 14,000 certified audiologists in the U.S., a number that has seen little change over the past decade. It's imperative to provide top working conditions for those in this specialty, including competitive compensation and a guaranteed commission structure, both of which MLM offers, Hadar says.
Employees are offered base salaries along with guaranteed commission from device sales — an amount predetermined by the company — which ensures a highly-competitive, stable income.
Hadar points out that this rare model is especially appealing for the many providers paying down student loan debt.
"Audiologists need to earn enough to justify the eight years in school," he says. "We can take an educated guess of what the commission piece would be, we know that they will reach that amount one way or another, and we guarantee it, which most of our competitors will not."
In the benefits department, the company offers three weeks of PTO that increases with tenure and flexible schedules. Providers are trusted to manage their hours, and clinics are often paired with a "sister clinic" with whom the audiologists can coordinate for coverage assistance. Offerings also include medical, dental, vision disability, life insurance and 401(k) with employer matching.
Opportunities for professional growth exist as well, such as upward movement to management positions within the company.
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How benefits supplement a supportive culture
Along with salary, benefits and growth options, the company is known for prioritizing the well-being of its people, Hadar says. From the time they are hired, audiologists are supported by leadership — first by their recruiters, who check in on them for the first two months, and then management in the form of training, weekly feedback and 1:1 and group meetings.
There is also a network for anyone having work-related problems, starting with their direct manager and going all the way to the top leaders. Everyone in the company, including providers, office staff and call center employees, has Hadar's cell phone number; the litmus test for effective support by those below him is that no one ever calls it, he says.
"We call it our inverted triangle culture," says Hadar. "My business partner and I are not the most important; we may have to make the tough calls and strategic decisions, but we drop anything and attend to somebody who has an issue. The people that are forward-facing with a patient are important because if they don't receive the answer they seek, then the patient will suffer."
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The payoff of a good reputation
MLM's approach makes enlisting new talent easy, too, Hadar explains. The company has a recruiting team and is very active with universities and on social media, but its employees are the best ambassadors, he says.
"Acquiring talent on a provider level would [normally] be the most difficult aspect of what we do," says Hadar. "But thankfully, that has not been the case. We have established ourselves as a place to go in the industry."
