Care job vacancies in England rise to 110,000

Full story on BBC, 24 July 2018

About 110,000 jobs in adult care in England are left vacant, a rise of 22,000 in a year, according to workforce data.

Training charity Skills for Care said the vacancy rate had risen from an estimated 6.6% in 2017 to 8% in 2018.

It said employers found it a “challenge” to get people with the “right values” for care work.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it is going to run a recruitment campaign.

The statistics also show 31% of carers left or changed jobs in 2017-18.

The average pay for council care employees was £9.80 an hour, while the average pay per hour in the private sector was £8.12.

Skills for Care chief executive Sharon Allen said: “Employers often tell us their biggest issue is finding people with the right values to work in adult social care and this report shows the scale of that challenge.”