Social care vacancy rates have returned to pre-Covid levels,
according to the latest data from Skills for Care – the workforce
development body for adult social care in England.
The annual ‘Size and structure of the adult social care
sector and workforce in England' report also found that the adult
social care sector has continued to grow between April 2024 and
March 2025, despite a significant fall in the number of
international recruits.
The new figures – based on data from Skills for Care's Adult Social Care
Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) – show that the vacancy rate for
2024/25 fell to 7%. This was a return to similar levels seen
prior to 2021/22, when the rate had peaked at 10.5%.
The total number of vacant posts in 2024/25 was 111,000, which is
a 12.4% decrease on the previous year.
The number of filled posts grew by 3.4% to 1.6 million. This
growth was smaller than the previous year, but still the second
highest increase on record.
The report shows the turnover rate in the independent sector
decreased from 25.8% in 2023/24, to 24.7% in 2024/25.
The number of international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24
to 50,000 in 2024/25.
However, the number of posts filled by people with a British
nationality continued to fall, decreasing by 30,000 in 2024/25 -
a decrease of 3%. The overall decrease in posts filled by people
with a British nationality since 2020/2021 is 85,000 (7%).
The total number of posts in adult social care in England –
comprising filled and vacant posts - was 1.71m in 2024/25, and
this is an increase of 2.2% from 2023/24.
The sector still faces long term recruitment and retention
challenges as it is projected to need around 470,000 new posts -
an increase of 27% - by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth
in the population over the age of 65.
Skills for Care's Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
has data on more than 700,000 people in over 20,000 locations and
enables data to be gathered flexibly on new areas of interest, to
support policymaking and understanding of the workforce.
Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care's CEO, says:
“It's encouraging to see the sector continuing to grow and the
vacancy rate falling back to pre-Covid levels.
“But we can't afford to be complacent as some of this will be
down to the fall in vacancies in the wider economy, which we know
always benefits our sector. We need to protect ourselves from the
wild swings in vacancy rates driven by the wider economic
picture.
“It's important to recognise that, while the vacancy rate in
social care has reduced, it's still three times that of the wider
economy. And the data show that we'll still need 470,000 more
posts by 2040, so all of us in adult social care need to stay
focused on workforce issues.
“Building resilience means investing in stable recruitment and
retention and making roles more attractive to the domestic
workforce over the long term. That includes improving development
opportunities, improving the quality of roles and supporting
positive cultures within organisations.
“The sector is strongly committed to action. It's been a year
since we published the Workforce Strategy for
Adult Social Care in England, when the sector came together
to develop it under Skills for Care's leadership. We've made a
lot of progress implementing it over the past year and more than
half of the Strategy's recommendations and commitments are
already in progress or complete.
“We know there's lots more to do, though. Everyone - from
Government to care providers, from regulators to frontline staff
- has a role to play in building the workforce we need to deliver
the best possible care and support for the people in our
communities who draw on local services.”
The full updated data and report will be available at
this link from 00.01 on Tuesday 29 July 2025: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/sizeandstructure
-ENDS-
Notes to editor:
- The link to the data in the press release will display our
2023-24 data until the web page is updated with the 2024-25 data
on Tuesday 29 July.
- An embargoed copy of the report is available on request.
- Oonagh Smyth is available for interviews.
- Figures for 2024-25 may be slightly different from those
previously published. This is because figures from previous years
are retrospectively changed when new information becomes
available or methodologies improve.
- The number of vacant posts includes short-term vacancies due
to recent or anticipated staff turnover,posts created by
employers who want to expand their businesses, as well as more
persistent vacancies where the offer to potential staff is not
sufficiently competitive in the local labour market.Some vacant
posts may be covered by agency staff.
Download
an embargoed copy of the full
report.
