Cochlear chief executive Dig Howitt says the pandemic has shown the importance of investing in the training of new healthcare workers after the sector was hit by staff shortages during COVID.

Mr Howitt said he believed the shortages would be resolved eventually, despite hospital staffing issues impacting hearing implant volumes in the US.

“Our training and education has to keep up with demand — that is an issue and I think that has probably been exacerbated by COVID,” he said. “I think it’s increasing the need for a good pipeline of healthcare workers.”

Shares in the $12.5 billion medtech jumped by more than 9 per cent on Tuesday after Cochlear’s half-year results came out ahead of analyst consensus expectations and the company increased its interim dividend by 35 per cent to $1.55 per share.

The company surprised the market with a 30 per cent jump in hearing implant volumes in emerging markets, but in developed markets it declined by 2 per cent. These volumes are tracking ahead of pre-pandemic levels, but the company noted volume declines were most notable across the United States, where both the Delta and Omicron surges left operating theatres running below capacity.

Mr Howitt said nurse shortages were being felt across the globe, with staff in the US either leaving the system or quitting full-time roles to take up part-time or casual employment. He told analysts that operating room staffing was expected to stabilise in coming months.

“What we’re hearing is that this is a COVID-driven factor of fatigue rather than a structural shortage,” he said.

European nations were seeing a solid bounce back in hearing implant volumes, but “the rate of recovery, however, continues to vary by country with intermittent COVID‐related restrictions reducing overall operating theatre capacity”, the company said.

Australian volumes were also hit by elective surgery shutdowns.