The tank shortage gets the memes, but ask anyone forming a group at 9pm: the healer column empties almost as fast, and the shortage is just as structural.
Why healing stays niche
- Inverted feedback: DPS see their number go up; healers see damage that did not happen. The reward loop is prevention, and prevention is invisible.
- Blame asymmetry: a death is a healer question first in most pugs, even when the log says avoidable damage. That social tax drives healers into fixed groups with people who know better.
- The gear paradox: healer loot competes with everyone's offspec, but healer THROUGHPUT depends on it just as hard as DPS depends on theirs.
The market consequences
Fixed rosters hoard good healers; the pug pool gets what remains. Queue times for DPS stretch not because five DPS are missing but because ONE healer is. And in the carry economy, the rehearsed tank-plus-healer core is literally the product: what you book is the two roles the group finder cannot reliably produce.
If you play a healer
You hold the scarce resource: use it. Your own keys fill instantly, guilds recruit you year-round, and consistent healing in a fixed group converts into loot priority and social capital faster than any DPS parse.
If you need a healer
Befriend one, recruit one, or be honest that your Tuesday key night depends on roulette. Groups that treat their healer well keep them; groups that spend the run assigning blame join the queue with everyone else. The shortage is not going anywhere - your relationship with it is the only variable you control.