State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2022

Repost from Skills for Care:

The latest report was published this week and shows that the number of vacant posts in adult social care have increased by 52% in one year – the highest rate on record. The data reveals that on average, 10.7% of roles in adult social care are vacant across the sector, which is equivalent to 165,000 vacancies being advertised on an average day. The number of filled posts (posts with a person working in them) has dropped by 50,000 – the first drop in the number of social care workers ever. At the same time the demand for care has risen, highlighting that social care is facing a complex challenge with recruitment and retention which will be impacting on the lives of people who need social care.

Turnover rates across the sector also remain high, at 29% in 2021/22. Approximately 400,000 people left their jobs in the last year, however not all workers leave the care sector - with around 63% of jobs recruiting people from other care roles. The sector is still struggling to find and keep younger workers with turnover rates amongst those under 20 at 52.6%.

See the updated report and data visualisations on our website.

Skills for Care would like to say a huge thank you to all the adult social care providers who continue to use the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS). This report is just one way we use the data to provide intelligence for the government and decision makers to help create a highly skilled, sustainable workforce to deliver high-quality social care now and in the future.