One thing that Covid 19 has completely changed is creating what many call the new normal. When it's related to the workplace, it means that the hybrid working situation is here to stay for the long term.
Not only are employees finding it to be a standard benefit, but Employers are also embracing it as a cost-effective measure by having reduced operational and office costs. In addition, it enables people to work from anywhere and still produce results, and it has people shifting away from high-cost cities since they no longer have a commute.
In fact, as of May 2022, 24% of employees in the UK had some form of hybrid working situation, with the trend moving upwards. While this might seem to be a win-win between employer and employee, it has left several sectors in need of candidates where a hybrid working situation simply wouldn’t work.
The Care Sector has a lack of candidates
Care workers, in general, were always one of those areas where they were underpaid and underappreciated. However, the pandemic itself pushed existing care workers to the limit and caused such stress and risk to those in the field that they started to leave in droves for safer, stress-free positions within the same pay range. This is not simply converting to office workers, but because there were so many leaving the cities and starting to work in a hybrid or fully remote situation, many positions became available that were much simpler than being a care worker.
May 2022 vacancy rates increased to 10.3%, a slight increase from 10.2% in April 2022. This compares to rates of 5.8% in May 2021. This aligns with comments made by the Secretary of State in his evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee on 7th June, when he stated that Skills for Care has reported vacancy rates of over 10% and “they are probably closer to where the situation really is”.
Following the peak of the pandemic, vacancy rates have been rising and are now higher than they were pre-covid. This comes after a decrease in vacancy rates during the pandemic, which could be attributed to fewer jobs being available in other sectors and a sense of loyalty to supporting the sector through the crisis.
An increase in vacancy rates in recent months reflects the recruitment and retention challenges employers have faced post-pandemic as other sectors have re-opened and as some social care staff have felt the impact of the past two years.
Meanwhile, the number of filled posts is decreasing with a drop of 4.5% filled posts among employers reporting data in the adult social care workforce data set (ASC-WDS) since March 2021 to May 2022. This is a similar picture to the previous month where the number of filled posts was down 4.4%. The number of filled posts in care homes reflects the sector-wide pattern, while for domiciliary care specifically filled posts are down 4.9%, compared to 4.7% in April 2022.
A decrease in the number of filled posts across the sector is a new trend. Jobs over the past several years have consistently increased to keep up with the rising demand for care due to the ageing population. Given the vacancy rate has also risen over the same period, this points towards recruitment and retention difficulties for the sector rather than a decrease in demand, with employers not being able to find and recruit the staff they need.
How to tackle this demand
With that said, there's still a huge need for care workers, and since the pandemic is finding itself at the end of its lifespan, the huge demand has helped to improve the conditions and the pay rates for many in this position. Yet HR recruitment specialists for a company need to be able to fill these positions quickly, without the need to pay headhunters or recruiters per candidate, which is not beneficial when it's always several candidates needed, not simply just one.
Enter RecruitPedia Nxt Recruitment…
We're here to help resolve the issue regarding recruitment on a large scale. The care sector itself is a critical industry that protects and provides for those loved ones of ours that are often the most vulnerable. Searching and screening for the right candidates can itself be exhausting, as we want to ensure the highest quality candidates are put forward for these care sector positions. We are trusted by hundreds of Employers within the Care Sector.
RecruitPedia helps to bridge that gap and bridge it with simple fixed pricing (not per recruit) while providing access countrywide. We work with all the relevant job boards to get your posting, and, ultimately, your recruitment needs fulfilled through this fixed transparent pricing. That way, you're able to quickly staff up with numerous candidates as needed, starting with just one campaign plan.
