Building a care workforce that stays: what providers can change now

Find the problem your next decision needs to solve

Start with a small service-level review. Which roles are hard to fill? When do new starters leave? Which shifts are repeatedly difficult to cover? What do staff say about pay, travel, management support and their working week? Distinguish an empty post from a shortage of a particular skill or reliable availability at a particular time.

Compare recruitment records with supervision, exit feedback and the actual rota. Homecare leaders may need to examine journey patterns and the predictability of paid hours. A care home may need a closer look at shift patterns, handovers and access to experienced colleagues. The same headline vacancy figure can conceal very different operating problems.

Skills for Care’s current turnover analysis describes associations between workforce characteristics and leaving. It explicitly cautions that those characteristics are not necessarily the cause. Use the evidence to form questions, then test them against your own service. A national relationship cannot establish why a particular colleague resigned. ^[2]

Make the employment offer useful in an ordinary working week

Ask staff what would make the greatest difference to staying. The answer may involve earlier notice of shifts, dependable hours, flexibility around caring responsibilities, fair access to overtime or a manager who has time to listen. Skills for Care’s practical guidance connects wellbeing and recognition with stable, fair working arrangements. ^[3]

Benefits deserve the same scrutiny as any recurring commitment. Review sick pay, pension contributions, wellbeing support and other benefits with staff, then cost the options. Check who could use each benefit and whether shift patterns or eligibility would exclude the people whose needs it is meant to address. Keep pay and the wider employment offer visible together.

Before changing a rota or contractual arrangement, understand the employment implications, care coverage and preferences of the people affected. A predictable pattern can help one colleague while another values flexibility. Seek appropriate employment advice where needed and involve staff in the design. Any continuing expenditure needs a sustainable budget, including management and administration time.

Build a local route into care, with support after the interview

A useful recruitment partnership starts with the work available: location, hours, pay, responsibilities and the support a new colleague will receive. Give colleges, employment teams and prospective applicants a realistic picture. Skills for Care’s recruit-to-retain guidance recommends values-based recruitment, clear expectations, communication before starting and structured induction. ^[4]

Jobcentre Plus sector-based work academies offer a specific route to investigate. In England and Scotland, a programme can last up to six weeks and combine pre-employment training, work experience and an interview or support through the recruitment process. Availability and design are agreed with Jobcentre Plus. It is an entry route to assess, rather than a promise of a ready-made care workforce. ^[5]

Ask the local employer team what can be arranged for your vacancies. Establish who handles preparation, checks, accessibility, supervision and feedback. Although the scheme funds training and administration, the care service still needs capacity to host and support participants. Work experience must be planned around safe care and appropriate responsibilities. ^[5]

Apprenticeships can also support recruitment or development. Compare the relevant role, learning commitment and eligibility with the organisation’s ability to provide mentoring and protected learning time. Skills for Care brings apprenticeships, work academies and learning funding together in its funded initiatives resource. Follow the detailed rules for the route you choose. ^[6]

Give development a destination that staff can see

Begin a development conversation with the work someone wants to do and the capability the service needs. Progression might involve practice leadership, a specialist responsibility or management. England’s Care Workforce Pathway now describes 18 role categories, providing a framework for making those conversations more specific. It does not create funded posts or promise promotion. ^[7]

For each proposed course, agree how the learning will be used, who will support practice and whether responsibilities or recognition will change. Schedule release time and supervision before booking. A funded place can still create a staffing pressure if the organisation has made no arrangement for the learner’s absence.

The Learning and Development Support Scheme continues in 2026/27 for eligible adult social care employers in England. Check the approved course and staff eligibility, an up-to-date ASC-WDS account, reimbursement limits and claim deadlines before committing. Funding is limited, so a published scheme should not be treated as confirmation that your proposed spend will be reimbursed. ^[8]

Our refreshed training-funding feature takes this further, connecting eligibility with the practical cost of staff cover, supported learning and an agreed review of competence. Retention can form part of that review, but a course completion cannot establish that training caused someone to stay.

Include international colleagues in the workforce plan

A discussion about recruitment supply should also consider the experience of international staff already working in the service. Ask whether induction, communication, supervision and progression are accessible to them. Give colleagues a reliable route to raise concerns and access appropriate advice, without expecting them to disclose personal circumstances in a general team discussion.

Skills for Care’s current guidance identifies potential recruitment of eligible international workers already in England who need a new sponsor, subject to visa requirements. It also signposts regional partnerships supporting displaced workers. These arrangements are distinct from recruitment into care-worker roles from overseas. Check current official guidance and obtain regulated immigration advice where needed. ^[9]

Our linked settlement feature explains the November announcement and the detail still to come. Employers can help staff find reliable information and maintain appropriate records. They should avoid making individual promises about settlement or treating a future policy framework as a change to someone’s present permission to work.

Make one improvement measurable before expanding it

Choose a manageable starting point from the evidence. That could be a stronger induction for one intake, a review of a difficult rota pattern or a development route for an existing team. Record the expected benefit, staff affected, cost, owner, dependencies and date for review. The downloadable working record below provides space for those decisions.

Establish a baseline before the change. Useful measures could include early departures, unfilled shifts, agency hours, staff feedback and continuity for people receiving care. Review them together: filling the rota is valuable, but leaders also need to understand competence, experience and the sustainability of the arrangement.

A review after an agreed period, such as 90 days, can show what needs adjustment. This is a suggested management interval, not a statutory deadline or proof of causation. Keep small numbers and seasonal changes in view. Where the obstacle is an inadequate fee or an unsustainable contract, take the costed evidence into commissioning discussions alongside the operational work.