New report reveals persistent domestic recruitment and retention challenges in adult social care
The adult social care sector in England continued to grow in 2024/25, contributing £77.8 billion to the economy. However, new data from Skills for Care highlights ongoing challenges in domestic recruitment and workforce sustainability.
The annual ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report shows that the total number of posts in adult social care increased by 2.2 per cent on the previous year. As well as providing a vital public service, the sector’s economic contribution increased by 12.2 per cent to reach £77.8 billion.
This increase in economic contribution is largely driven by more filled posts in social care and an increase in the National Living Wage, resulting in an increase in average pay. This shows that improved workforce capacity and pay in social care brings economic benefits for wider society.
Vacancy rates have also returned to pre-Covid levels at seven per cent (as reported in our ‘Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce report’) and the proportion of men in the workforce reached a new record for the third successive year – now at 22 per cent.
While improvements in workforce capacity continue to be supported by international recruitment, the number of new international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24 to 50,000 in 2024/25. Over the same period, the number of workers with British nationality declined by 30,000 (a 2.6% decrease).
With the vacancy rate still around three times that of the wider economy, the report’s findings demonstrate how, rather than overseas recruits taking jobs from British people, international recruitment has continued to benefit employers struggling to recruit domestically.
The lack of growth in domestic recruitment highlights the need to build a more sustainable, long-term workforce.
For the first time, the report includes figures on employer sick pay and pension contributions which show that 62% of care providing establishments using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) don’t offer enhanced sick pay and 57 per cent don’t offer enhanced employer pension contributions (more than three per cent).
The proportion of care and support workers with a Level 2 qualification has fallen to 38 per cent – down from 41 per cent in 2023/24 and 48 per cent 2018/19.
As part of the report, Skills for Care analyses ‘five factors affecting turnover’. These include paying up to 30 per cent below the local authority average; not being on a zero-hours contract; receiving training; having a qualification relevant to social care, and working full-time.
The latest findings show a contrast in turnover rates: people with none of these factors in place are almost three times more likely to leave their jobs compared to people with all five factors (42.2% vs 14.4%).
Other key findings from the report include the vacancy rate for 2024/25 fell to seven per cent. This was a return to similar levels seen prior to 2021/22, when the rate had peaked at 10.5 per cent.
The number of filled posts grew by 3.4 per cent to 1.6 million. This growth was smaller than the previous year, but still the second highest increase on record.
The sector still faces long-term recruitment and retention challenges as it is projected to need around 470,000 new posts – an increase of 27 per cent – by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth in the population over the age of 65.
Professor Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care’s CEO, says: “Our latest report highlights the complex nature of the social care sector today, with encouraging signs of progress for our workforce, alongside challenges that still need to be addressed.
“It’s positive to see our workforce growing, and vacancy and turnover rates continuing to fall. However, much of this improvement is being driven by international recruitment and, as both domestic and international recruitment are slowing, we need to explore new pathways to build sustainable workforce capacity.
“At the same time, falling qualification levels – when care roles are becoming more complex – suggest that capability, as well as capacity, is likely to be a challenge in the future. We have to ensure that people have the skills, values and confidence to do these essential roles in social care.
“To meet growing and changing care needs, we must prioritise domestic recruitment and invest in learning and development for our workforce.
“That’s why initiatives such as the Workforce Strategy that we published last year, and steps towards a Fair Pay Agreement and a National Care Service are so important. They are vital to building a thriving, skilled workforce that plays a central role in neighbourhood health – and ultimately supports people to live a good, independent life in a place they can call home.
“Skills for Care will continue to work with partners across the sector to support workforce development in practice and ensure the insights from this report inform future planning and policy.
The ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce report’ uses data shared through Skills for Care’s Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS), which has information on more than 700,000 staff in over 21,000 locations.
ASC-WDS also offers benefits for care providers including the ability to analyse and benchmark their data, a place to store training and qualifications records – and access to funding through the Learning and Development Support Scheme.
Commenting on the report, Kathryn Marsden OBE, Chief Executive of Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), said: “Despite some good news about the care workforce in this report, we shouldn’t be complacent.
“The workforce has grown for the third consecutive year, and average vacancy and turnover rates have continued to fall. However, a detailed look at the underlying workforce pressures suggests breathing easy would be premature. A relentless focus on improving care workers’ pay, working conditions and career opportunities remains critical to stabilising the social care system.”
Amy Little, Head of Advocacy at Leonard Cheshire, said: “In 2024/25, adult social care contributed around £77.8 billion to the economy. Skills for Care’s analysis shows that investing in social care not only supports disabled adults to live their lives but also drives national growth.
“Real social care reform needs full government funding. With 111,000 vacancies and mounting pressure on providers, the Chancellor’s November Budget must prioritise funding for fair pay and a resilient care workforce. Investing in social care is investing in people.”
Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy and Research at the Health Foundation, commented: “The Skills for Care report paints a mixed picture for social care. The care workforce is growing and vacancies are falling, but vacancy rates are still around three times higher than in the wider economy and recent progress is fragile.
“The continuing decline in the number of British workers poses a major challenge given the government’s decision to end international recruitment of care workers.”
