NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Even as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be reaching its end, the labor shortage that was exacerbated by it continues to cause trouble for businesses and consumers.

For massage therapists, the shortage has been made even more challenging as massage schools and programs shut down during the pandemic.

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“There's less people coming out of massage schools. Through COVID, some schools just disappeared, some looked at the job and thought that there wouldn't be a demand for it. One school that had called me, that's basically what they had thought is that, ‘Oh COVID is going to destroy massage, people aren't going to want to be touched,’” said Jim Baker, owner of The Mind Body Institute in Traverse City. 

“It actually did the opposite. People realized how important touch is in their life and also research has been showing that massage is extremely helpful for a lot of emotional and physical ailments," he said. "So the market for massage therapists has increased greatly into the medical and, I guess it would be called, the emotional support fields.”

Baker said when COVID-19 happened, many massage therapists chose to retire, rather than navigate the new landscape. While many therapists left the industry, there continues to be interest in massage as a career, but with so few schools open, potential students often have to travel or move in order to attend classes.

Those who attend school, however, step into a market that is eager for their services with job options in spas, chiropractic offices, hospitals or the freedom to work out of their home or their own office.

“Demand went way up, supply went down, existing massage therapists left, which is great for schools that did stick around because our students can find jobs instantly. The last three or four graduating classes that I've had, everyone that wants to be working was working within a month of graduation without even trying,” Baker said.

For Mike Ryan, owner of the Marquette School of Therapeutic Massage, the pandemic moved up the timeline of his retirement from teaching. He said he had planned to either train someone to take over the school or close it eventually, but after spending the last couple months of a nine month program teaching over Zoom, he decided to cancel his next class and close the school.

“I was getting ready to retire anyway, but COVID was the main reason. I couldn't see doing it without interruption for a good long time and I didn't want to hang around and wait for the pandemic to completely go away,” Ryan said.

Those already working when the pandemic began, found themselves using more supplies like towels, hand sanitizer and cleaners and found that more people were seeking massage services than before.

“Massage is just more and more coveted every year and I think the pandemic reinforced for people that need for positive healing touch, because everybody had to sit down for three months and then when we opened up, our phones just started ringing off the hook,” said Jennifer Clasman, owner of Boyne City Massage and Wellness. 

“At that point, we were able to hire some therapists and it's just been nonstop ever since. There is no slow season anymore for massage at our studio, it just doesn't exist.”

Over the years, the mindset around massage has been shifting from luxury service, to therapeutic and even medical treatment. 

Doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists have started referring patients to massage therapists and found that it is an effective way to treat injuries and other forms of physical pain, in addition to the mental and emotional benefits.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association, massage is rarely the first career choice. In a 2021 survey, the association found that 82 percent of massage therapists had a career before they found massage. 

While massage is good for the client, therapists have to take close care of their bodies and mental health due to the physical strain of their jobs.

“It's not for the faint of heart, it is a physical job. So massage therapists have to take care of their bodies. But with the right mentorship, it's a great profession,” Clasman said.

With Northern Michigan’s strong tourism economy, massages are a popular way to relax, but outside of spas and resorts, much of the clientele is made up of locals who rely on regular massages to manage pain or stress, Clasman said.

Chelsea Berg, co-owner of Thrive Wellness Massage Therapy in Cheboygan, started out working on Mackinac Island in a spa, which she said was well-paying and a great experience. She and her co-owner Melinda Nikolovski eventually decided to move back to Cheboygan and have spent the last year building up their clientele, mostly through word-of-mouth and referrals.

“One of the reasons that I ended up not going back to the place I worked was because I managed it and we couldn't find workers and I just told them I just couldn't do it. So especially for the tourist areas, I think (more therapists) would be extremely beneficial,” Berg said.

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As more people begin to see massage as a tool for health management, demand continues to increase, putting a strain on working therapists. Clasman said the Boyne area therapists have a close network of referrals where they send clients to each other when their own schedules are too full to help them. 

Clasman spends her time educating and encouraging people to join the massage industry to help meet the demand. While she has managed to hire some new therapists, she said they still struggle to find people in Northern Michigan.

“Employees have a really hard time finding housing and affordable housing at that, so that's a huge part of it. People want to live up here, they just can't afford to. You're not going to make a million dollars doing massage, it's a labor of love. But it is a good job, we're comfortable as far as money goes,” Clasman said.