Adult Social Care is an investment in all of our futures

The Social Care sector is one of the UK’s most vital industries and instrumental in supporting the most vulnerable in our society – how can we support this undervalued industry in need of skills?

10 August 2022

Over the last two years, the adult social care sector has taken a prominent place in the public eye as the pandemic put enormous pressure on frontline workers supporting the most vulnerable people in our society. 

However, while the pandemic did much to shine a spotlight on the difficulties faced by the sector, Covid-19 was not the sole cause of pressure on the social care sector, with skills shortages and a high rate of staff turnover having been ongoing challenges for employers for many years. 

In September 2021, the Government announced £500m of funding to support the social care workforce, to be delivered over the next three years. But the question remains will this be enough to deliver the upskilling and reskilling that is required in the sector?

Currently, workers in the sector face some of the lowest average pay despite the essential nature of the work they do, and our Great Jobs research showed that those outside of the industry say that concerns over unsociable hours put them off considering a career in social care. 

With almost a quarter of a million new roles expected to be created in the sector by 2026, it must be a high priority for employers, government and learning providers to attract more people into social care and retain skilled and experienced staff – or we face an enormous skills crisis that could put lives at risk. 

In the latest episode of our Great Jobs podcast, City & Guilds CEO Kirstie Donnelly was joined by Nigel Taylor, Group Head of Learning and Development at CareTech and Chair of Adult Care Apprenticeship Employer Group, Sarah Gribbin, L&D Manager at Home Instead, and Lindsey Appleby-Flynn, Head of Design and Development at Cera Care, to find out more about the steps the industry is taking to tackle these challenges and the opportunities a career in social care can offer. 

You can listen to the podcast below and download a copy of our Social Care report [hyperlink], focusing on the sector using our Great Jobs Report research. 

Great Jobs Podcast Episode 3: Social Care - Tackling myths, recruitment challenges and maintaining a bright future.