The number of adult social care jobs in England filled by British nationals has plummeted by 85,000 since the pandemic, according to a new report highlighting mounting recruitment challenges in the sector. Posts filled by people with British nationality have fallen by seven per cent since 2020/21.
The decline has accelerated in recent months, with 30,000 fewer posts filled by British nationals in the year to March alone. Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development body for adult social care in England, warned that domestic recruitment "remains challenging for the sector".
Government immigration crackdown
New immigration rules that came into effect last week have closed applications for care workers and senior care workers under the skilled worker visa scheme. The measures form part of Government efforts in "restoring control over the immigration system".
From April, care providers must now prove they attempted to recruit workers from within England before looking overseas. Skills for Care warned the new immigration rules from July "will make it more challenging for the sector to continue to grow in line with demand".
Workforce projections raise concerns
The organisation restated its projection that an extra 470,000 people will need to be employed in the sector by 2040 to meet the needs of a growing older population. The report said: "A substantial increase in recruitment and retention of staff with a British nationality would likely be required to achieve this level of growth."
International recruitment has already dropped significantly, with an estimated 50,000 people arriving in the UK in 2024/25 to start direct care roles, down from 105,000 the previous year. Of these, only 10,000 came on health and care worker visas, while the rest arrived through other routes including student visas.
Vacancy rates show improvement
Despite recruitment challenges, overall adult social care posts rose by 52,000 to 1.6 million between 2023/24 and 2024/25. The vacancy rate has fallen to 7.0 per cent, with 111,000 vacant posts on any given day in the year to March.
This represents an improvement from the 8.3 per cent vacancy rate in March 2024, when there were 126,000 vacant posts daily. The vacancy rate peaked at 152,000 vacant posts per day in the 12 months to March 2022.
Sector leaders urge caution
Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care's chief executive, said whilst the falling vacancy rate is "encouraging", the sector "can't afford to be complacent". She warned: "It's important to recognise that, while the vacancy rate in social care has reduced, it's still three times that of the wider economy."
Smyth urged investment in "stable recruitment and retention" and efforts to make roles "more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term". She called for development opportunities, improving role quality and supporting positive cultures within organisations to address the workforce crisis.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
