The Sticking Plasters Aren't Working: the Ongoing UK Workforce Crisis in Adult Social Care, New Evidence from an Expansive Database of Job Advertisements

We shed new light on the longstanding challenge of recruiting adult social care (ASC) workers through innovative textual analysis of an extensive database of job advertisements. Having confirmed the low pay offered, we provide a first systematic evaluation of two recent strategies employed in ASC recruitment, starting with a look at signing bonuses. While a short-lived burst of generous signing bonuses is shown to have helped alleviate acute shortages in some occupations, their use in ASC involves far smaller sums and record unfilled vacancies persist. The UK government’s recent decision to offer visas to migrant workers coming to work in ASC is also found lacking. Few advertised roles are found to exceed the required salary threshold. This evidence adds weight to calls for significant government action, including long overdue funding reforms. Without this, unmet care needs will continue to grow, as will consequential problems within the UK’s National Health Service.