One in nine social care jobs in Shropshire were unfilled last year, figures show

Skills for Care charity, which estimates there are 165,000 vacant posts across England, said the social care sector is facing complex challenges with a surge in demand impacting recruitment and retention.

The charity’s annual report found England’s social care vacancy rate hit a record high of nearly 11 per cent in the year to September.

Figures provided by the charity, which are rounded to the nearest hundred, show there were around 9,900 jobs available in Shropshire’s adult social care sector in 2021 to 2022 – with roughly 9,300 of these posts filled.

It means the area’s vacancy rate was equal to the national average at 11 per cent. There was a significant level of vacancies for social worker and care worker roles.

West Midlands had the fifth highest vacancy rate across England’s regions, at 10 per cent.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said: “Recruitment and retention in social care have been difficult for some years but both now appear to be getting markedly worse.

“The main problem is pay: cash-starved care simply can’t compete with the big supermarkets and online retailers on wages so committed staff are lured elsewhere.”

Ms Abrahams added “there’s no avoiding” the need for improved pay and conditions within social care.

Meanwhile, Skills for Care’s report found about 400,000 people left jobs in 2021 to 2022, with an average turnover rate of 29 per cent.

Shropshire had a turnover rate of 28 per cent across all adult social care services, with rates especially high among care workers and direct care staff.

The charity said a key solution to high turnover and job vacancy was better pay for care workers.

It estimated that care workers with five years’ experience were paid just 7p per hour more than those with less than a year.