Cover story
Care sector timebomb FOR RECRUITERS AND EMPLOYERS WORKING IN THE UK’S CARE SECTOR, THE ONLY CERTAINTY IS THAT THERE ARE DIFFICULT TIMES AHEAD. AS MOST IN THE INDUSTRY BELIEVE THE SITUATION WILL ONLY GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER, COLIN COTTELL INVESTIGATES HOW FIRMS ARE DEALING WITH THE CHALLENGES
With as many as a million more workers needed by next year, recruiters in the UK’s care sector could legitimately claim they work in the UK’s toughest sector. Earlier this year a study by the International Longevity Centre and Anchor, a major care sector employer, warned that as the UK’s population ages, England alone could face a shortfall of 718,000 care workers by 2025. A staggering 40% of the projected rise in England’s working age population will need to enter the care profession to tackle what the report described as a ‘workforce time bomb’. “The requirement for elderly and specialist care provision is forecast to grow by more than 3% per year over the next 10 years, driven by the needs of a growing elderly population,” says Ian Smith, chairman of Four Seasons Health Care, a major employer in the sector. “That’s a lot of workers in a sector that already employs 1.5m.” Phil Porter, director of adult social services at the London Borough of Brent and co-chair of ADASS’s (Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) Workforce Development Network, warns that with social service budgets under pressure, the situation “is going to get more challenging”.
Number of jobs 2013: 1.5m Needed by 2025: 2.5m • The number of people in England aged 85 will increase from 1.24m in 2013 to 2.3m by 2030, according to the Office for National Statistics • Between 2012 and 2025 the care workforce will need to increase by between 765,000 (47%) and 965,000 (59%) to meet the needs of England’s ageing population, alone • Care workers and home carers, who account for 700,000 of the total workforce, are paid an average of £7.90 an hour, but 40% are paid below £7.00 an hour • 30% are on zero-hours contracts • 19% staff turnover across the sector • 37.2% of care workers have no relevant qualifications • 82% of the care sector workforce is made up of women Source: The Future Care Workforce report 2014
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RECRUITER
OCTOBER 2014
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KAREN ROBINSON
CARE SECTOR’S WORKFORCE CHALLENGES
WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK
09/10/2014 09:48