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The labour shortage in England's care sector is worse than at the start of the pandemic, according to industry body Skills for Care. Its annual State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report shows that nearly 7% of roles in adult social care were vacant in 2020/21, the equivalent of 105,000 vacancies being advertised on an average day. The vacancy rate has been above 6% consistently for the past six years, it said. Retention is an even more pressing problem, with average turnover at 28.5% for the same period for directly employed staff. This decreased briefly during the pandemic, but since March 2021 employers report worsening problems trying to hold on to staff. Furthermore, levels of staff sickness nearly doubled over the course of the pandemic. An average of 9.5 days per worker were lost to sickness in 2020/21, compared to 5.1 days before the pandemic. Skills for Care said that vacancy rates have been steadily rising since May 2021, when lockdown restrictions eased. As of August 2021, vacancy rates went back to pre-pandemic levels, according to its research. The sector has also had to deal with the introduction of compulsory vaccinations for frontline staff, which has presented some challenges in terms of recruitment. CEO Oonagh Smith said the report was a “stark reminder” that the sector continued to deal with recruitment challenges. She said it was important to “properly reward and value care workers for their high skill levels and dedication”, and anticipated measures to this end in the government’s forthcoming white paper on adult social care, expected later this year. “Social care is fundamental infrastructure in our communities, it allows people in our families, our friends and people in our communities to be supported to live the lives they choose.,” she said. “And the workforce in social care are the people that provide that support every day, in every single community. “The workforce is so important but we know from speaking to employers that the pandemic has had a huge impact on people working in social care. The rich data from this authoritative a
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