Workers Services

London: a city where value and worth are measured in currency. In such a city, roles which are skilled and underpaid are failing to recruit enough staff to keep up with an ever growing workload. Nowhere is this a lot more apparent than in the social care sector. Qualified social workers permeate each sector of community, from child protection, by way of to caring for the elderly; they are a required fabric of our society. There is both a want, and a demand for their services.

But fewer and fewer folks are picking to enter into a profession in social care. As a result, the entry requirements for a social worker are being sacrificed in order to broaden the possibility of recruitment. Subsequently, the general attitude toward social work deteriorates. Add to that the media frenzy and blame culture surrounding high profile instances such as Baby P and Victoria Climbié, and fewer people choose a career in social care. And so it is easy to see how recruitment into social care is on a downward spiral.

It is no wonder, then, that Social Care Recruitment Companies are calling on qualified social workers from overseas. Unless we are prepared to sacrifice quality in a skilled profession and on which we heavily rely, there merely isn’t a option. One locum social work recruitment business has a particular section on their website, explaining about life in London, supporting foreign workers through the application process and supplying data on finding accommodation. For immigrant workers, the salaries provided to social workers are comparatively high. On the web site for locum social work recruitment, they state that social work in the UK provides “some of the most competitive salaries for social workers worldwide.”

yet, social care recruitment saw an improve in British workers during the recession. An indication of how salary is a significant factor in explaining the lack of British recruits. And spending in the social care sector is a main concern. The recent elections threw into focus the issue of cuts in public spending alongside stringent immigration restrictions. Vice-chair of the National Care Association, Mandy Thorn, had this to say on the planned caps on immigrant workers: “I think in the medium term it’s short-sighted since as a sector we have relied on immigrants to have labour to meet the workforce requirements.” This could prove a double blow to social care recruitment.