ABSTRACT
This article studies the changes in the job market brought on by the economic recession of the 1980s with reference to 18 categories of health professionals (representing, in 1984, 66 percent of the 925,000 jobs in the field). Evaluation was based on information provided by public and private establishments, and took into account jobs,not individuals, excluding professional activities carried out in private clinics or in administrative organizations. A change was observed in the distribution of such professionals, but not necessarily a reduction in their numbers. By dividing professional posts into three educational levels: higher (physicians, dentists, social workers, etc); intermediate (diagnosis, laboratory, and radiology support services, etc.) and basic (nursing auxiliares, aides, etc), a reduction may be observed in the demand for personnel with with basic training, particularly for nurses' aides. This appears to be attributable to the progress made in nursing education and qualifications, as a result of an increase in the number of regular and supplementary courses given in the 1970s, thus providing a greater supply of nursing auxiliaries for the labor market, some of whom replaced nurses' aides. The study also showed no reduction in public health expenditures during the critical period since there was actually an increased demand for health professionals in the public sector