The adult social care sector in England continued to grow in 2024/25, but challenges in domestic recruitment and workforce sustainability remain, a new report reveals.

Skills for Care's annual ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England' report shows that the total number of posts in adult social care increased by 2.2% on the previous year.

In addition, vacancy rates have returned to pre-Covid levels at 7%, and the proportion of men in the workforce reached a new record for the third successive year – now at 22%.

The report reveals that while improvements in workforce capacity continue to be supported by international recruitment, the number of new international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24 to 50,000 in 2024/25. Over the same period, the number of workers with British nationality declined by 30,000, a 2.6% decrease.

For the first time, the report includes figures on employer sick pay and pension contributions, which show that 62% of care providing establishments using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) don't offer enhanced sick pay and 57% don't offer enhanced employer pension contributions (more than 3%).

The proportion of care and support workers with a Level 2 qualification has fallen to 38% - down from 41% in 2023/24 and 48% 2018/19. Other key findings from the report include:

• 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 turnover rate in the independent sector decreased from 25.8% in 2023/24, to 24.7% in 2024/25.
• The total number of posts in adult social care in England – comprising filled and vacant posts - was 1.71m in 2024/25.

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.

Professor Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care's chief executive, said: ‘Our latest report highlights the complex nature of the social care sector today, with encouraging signs of progress for our workforce, alongside challenges that still need to be addressed.

‘It's positive to see our workforce growing, and vacancy and turnover rates continuing to fall. However, much of this improvement is being driven by international recruitment and, as both domestic and international recruitment are slowing, we need to explore new pathways to build sustainable workforce capacity.

‘At the same time, falling qualification levels – when care roles are becoming more complex – suggest that capability, as well as capacity, is likely to be a challenge in the future. We have to ensure that people have the skills, values and confidence to do these essential roles in social care.

‘To meet growing and changing care needs, we must prioritise domestic recruitment and invest in learning and development for our workforce. That's why initiatives such as the Workforce Strategy that we published last year, and steps towards a Fair Pay Agreement and a National Care Service are so important. They are vital to building a thriving, skilled workforce that plays a central role in neighbourhood health – and ultimately supports people to live a good, independent life in a place they can call home.'

In response to the report, a DHSC spokesperson, said: ‘It is welcome to see the continued improvement in retention – with vacancy rates now the lowest since the pandemic, and staff turnover at its lowest in almost a decade. With the government's increase in the minimum wage and the introduction of the living wage, we are putting money in the pockets of some of the most deserving people in our society: care workers.'

The spokesperson said that Baroness Casey's Independent Commission into adult social care will publish recommendations next year for building a National Care Service that is fair and affordable for all.

Reaction

Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘The fragility of the social care sector is one of key issues facing the health and wellbeing of our population.

‘Low pay and long hours have led to huge gaps in staffing, with more and more social care providers closing, feeding instability into a struggling system. A strong adult social care sector is crucial to solving the challenges facing the NHS and achieving the government's ambitions – including preventing ill health, moving care closer to people's homes and getting healthy patients out of hospital more quickly.'

Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor, chair of the LGA's Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: ‘Growth in the care workforce is a positive reflection of recent progress in improving capacity, stability and quality in the sector. However, urgent action is still needed to tackle long-standing serious recruitment and retention challenges, particularly around fair pay, access to training, and employment rights for all care workers.

‘The Government's ambition to deliver a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) for adult social care workers will be the cornerstone of this, but its success hinges on its costs being fully funded.'

Hugh Alderwick, director of policy and research at The Health Foundation, said: ‘Poor pay and conditions contribute to chronic workforce challenges in the sector and have an impact on people's care. Today's data show fewer care staff are getting the training and qualifications they need, and most of their employers don't offer enhanced sick pay or pension contributions above the legal minimum. In March 2025, median hourly pay for care workers was 56p above the National Living Wage. Our analysis finds that 1 in 5 residential care workers live in poverty.

‘The government's Employment Rights Bill and the planned Fair Pay Agreement for social care offer a vital opportunity to tackle these issues. If backed by investment from government and care providers, these measures could help improve the lives of the 1.5 million people employed in social care and the people they care for.'

Simon Bottery, senior fellow at The King's Fund, said: ‘This report shows that, once again, the reduction in the vacancy rate in adult social care has come about through the recruitment of overseas rather than British staff, highlighting the crucial role they play in the running of adult social care services. Yet, with recent changes to visa rules, the government has effectively turned off the tap for international recruits without implementing sufficient measures to fill the gap with domestic workers. A promised fair pay agreement, while welcome, will not arrive until 2028 and the £500m budget for it is unlikely to allow the scale of pay increase that appears necessary if vacancies are to be filled.

‘Given the report's forecast that 200,000 more care workers will be needed by 2030, there is little realistic hope that this demand will be met. We will need to rethink the wider funding of social care, develop a wider workforce strategy and consider how the workforce can be better deployed to support those who rely on it, particularly as demand will grow as the population ages.'

Nuffield Trust deputy director of policy, Natasha Curry, said: ‘There are some positive signs in today's findings, with the number of social care jobs continuing to increase and vacancies falling again last year from the 2021/22 peak.

‘Although international recruitment declined steeply last year following immigration policy change, it still drove much of the growth in filled social care roles, with 50,000 people joining the workforce from abroad. As even tighter immigration restrictions kick in, the sector's overreliance on overseas staff is looking increasingly risky, and firm plans to boost the domestic workforce won't take effect until 2028/29 at the earliest.

‘There are also still glaring issues with pay and working conditions, with care workers with over five years' experience earning only 7p per hour more than those with under one year of experience. For wages, sick pay and pensions, social care does poorly compared to the NHS. But the Fair Pay Agreement aimed at enhancing pay, terms and conditions in social care won't be implemented for over three years, supported by only a modest sum of money. Today's report captures data from before the government increased Employer National Insurance, which is set to add almost £1bn to the care sector's employer costs in 2025/26. With such tight finances, it's likely that we'll start to see a reversal in fortunes on workforce trends in the next years.

‘It's projected that social care will need 470,000 more workers by 2040, so the Skills for Care findings underscore the need for rapid action and a comprehensive, government-backed workforce strategy that comes alongside wider reform for the sector.'

Unison general secretary, Christina McAnea, said: ‘These figures show why the swift delivery of a fair pay agreement in social care is more important than ever. The slight fall in vacancy rates is welcome. But this could soon change as a result of visa reforms and the continued scourge of low pay for a tough, skilled job.

‘Fair pay across the care sector, and proper government investment to bring it about, are urgently needed. Higher wages should attract well-trained, professional staff who want to stay in social care. That will reduce turnover and improve the quality of services for some of society's most vulnerable people.

‘The UK remains reliant on dedicated migrant care workers, and they need proper protection from exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Introducing a sector-wide visa sponsorship scheme so workers aren't at the mercy of a dodgy boss would help. And there should be no extension to the qualifying period for leave to remain.'

Liz Wells is deputy editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.

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