Social care vacancy rates have returned to pre-Covid levels, according to the latest data from Skills for Care – the workforce development body for adult social care in England.
The annual ‘Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report also found that the adult social care sector has continued to grow between April 2024 and March 2025, despite a significant fall in the number of international recruits.
The new figures – based on data from Skills for Care’s Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) – show that the vacancy rate for 2024/25 fell to 7%. This was a return to similar levels seen prior to 2021/22, when the rate had peaked at 10.5%.
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 report shows the turnover rate in the independent sector decreased from 25.8% in 2023/24, to 24.7% in 2024/25.
The number of international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24 to 50,000 in 2024/25.
However, the number of posts filled by people with a British nationality continued to fall, decreasing by 30,000 in 2024/25 - a decrease of 3%. The overall decrease in posts filled by people with a British nationality since 2020/2021 is 85,000 (7%).
The total number of posts in adult social care in England – comprising filled and vacant posts - was 1.71m in 2024/25, and this is an increase of 2.2% from 2023/24.
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.
Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care’s CEO, said: “It's encouraging to see the sector continuing to grow and the vacancy rate falling back to pre-Covid levels.
“But we can't afford to be complacent as some of this will be down to the fall in vacancies in the wider economy, which we know always benefits our sector. We need to protect ourselves from the wild swings in vacancy rates driven by the wider economic picture.
“It’s important to recognise that, while the vacancy rate in social care has reduced, it’s still three times that of the wider economy. And the data show that we’ll still need 470,000 more posts by 2040, so all of us in adult social care need to stay focused on workforce issues.
“Building resilience means investing in stable recruitment and retention and making roles more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term. That includes improving development opportunities, improving the quality of roles and supporting positive cultures within organisations.
“The sector is strongly committed to action. It's been a year since we published the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England, when the sector came together to develop it under Skills for Care's leadership. We've made a lot of progress implementing it over the past year and more than half of the Strategy's recommendations and commitments are already in progress or complete.
“We know there's lots more to do, though. Everyone - from government to care providers, from regulators to frontline staff - has a role to play in building the workforce we need to deliver the best possible care and support for the people in our communities who draw on local services.”
The full updated data and report is available here: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/sizeandstructure
