Not-for-profit, Carers’ Resource in Harrogate have joined the national recruitment drive to help fill the 110,000 social care jobs in the UK. The government launched the initiative to fill the gap in social care jobs this month and have released some interesting statistics:
- more than 1.45 million people currently work in social care
- an additional 650,000 workers will be needed by 2035 due to an ageing population
- staff turnover rate in the sector is 30.7%, equating to nearly 400,000 people leaving care jobs every year
The campaign is titled “Every Day Is Different” follows the publication of a report on the NHS workforce warning of growing staff shortages across the sector. Sam Dawson is the Head of Care at Carers’ Resource in Harrogate.
Sam Dawson said:
We are working in partnership with Skills for Care, who are funded to support adult social care employers to deliver what the people they support need and what commissioners and regulators expect and are currently raising awareness of the national short-fall in resources. In the UK, people are living longer and the care industry is now in the top-10 industries in terms of numbers employed.
Many people have very set ideas of what working in social care is about, something that Sam is keen to dispel.
Sam Dawson said:
When people think of care they often think of intimate care, but that is a tiny part of the role or in a lot of cases people can manage this independently. We need to bust the myths a little on what care is about. Most of what we do is about helping people keep live their lives with dignity and with independence at home. Often our care support workers can sometimes be the only person someone will see all-day and it is important that someone has a smile on their face. It can be a personally very rewarding and every day is different.
Sam Dawson said:
Working in social care can offer a lot of benefits. It’s a growing sector, opposed to the shrinking retail high street and offers flexible working. You can build a career and access fully funded training which can lead to career progression. I have staff members that have worked from the ground-up and are now part of our management team. Social care can give an opportunity to work in a buoyant area and with good rates of pay.
Carers’ Resource are holding a drop-in open morning on Wednesday, 10am to 1pm from their office on 11 North Park Road.
