Skills for Care's 2024 State of Care Report: The latest Adult Social Care Workforce Trends

On 10 October Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, published their latest report on the state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England. This report is the latest key publication from Skills for Care following the launch of their national Social Care Workforce Strategy in July. 

The report provides a variety of analyses in relation to the adult social care workforce in England and explores trends such as workforce supply and demand, domestic and international recruitment, qualification rates, and future workforce projections. Below are some of the key findings:  

  • Sector’s contribution to the economy: the adult social care sector is estimated to contribute £68.1 billion gross value added to the economy in England, which is an increase of 13.2% relative to the 2022-23 year; 
  • Vacant posts: the sector’s vacancy rate of 8.3% (equivalent to 131,000 posts) equates to approximately 3 times that of the wider economy
  • Workforce composition: The adult social care sector in England estimated to comprise 1.59 million people. Of these, 76% of adult social care filled posts were roles providing direct care, compared to managers and supervisory (7% of posts), regulated professions (5%), and ‘other’ (12%, which includes a variety of non-care providing roles including administrative, catering, cleaning, transport and maintenance roles); 
  • Number of social care establishments: there has been an increase of approximately 3,600 social care organisations and establishments, up 14.1% between 2017-18 and 2023-24. There was a smaller increase of 3.8% between 2022-23 and 2023-24; 
  • Significant international recruitment: the report estimates in the 2023-2024 year there were approximately 105,000 international recruits providing direct care, a substantial increase compared to 80,000 in 2022/23; 
  • Decreasing domestic workforce: the number of people in the workforce with a British nationality has decreased by 70,000 over the two years since March 2022. 

As the proportion of the population aged 65 and above is anticipated to grow from 10.5 million to 14.5 million between 2020 and 2040, Skills for Care estimate that by 2040 the adult social care sector will require 540,000 extra new posts (equivalent to 29% growth). 

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To find out more about techUK’s work in social care, including techUK’s Social Care Working Group, get in touch with a member of our Health and Social Care or Local Public Services Teams, below. 

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Head of Health & Social Care, techUK

Viola Pastorino

Viola Pastorino

Junior Programme Manager, Health and Care Team, techUK

Clara Hewitt

Clara Hewitt

Programme Manager, Health and Social Care, techUK

Tracy Modha

Tracy Modha

Team Assistant - Markets, techUK

Georgina Maratheftis

Georgina Maratheftis

Associate Director, Local Public Services, techUK

Ileana Lupsa

Ileana Lupsa

Programme Manager, Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK

Alison Young

Alison Young

Associate Director Local Public Services, techUK