Rising to the social care workforce challenge
The social care sector will need to fill around 400,000 jobs by 2035. In the light of this reality, how can providers create a competitive edge in local labour markets and transform the sector into a career of choice? These were the questions addressed in a recent Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) workforce summit. The summit brought together over 100 chief executives and senior directors working across the disability sector alongside Skills for Care and Charityworks.
Launching the report, VODG chief executive Rhidian Hughes said: “Securing the right workforce is one of the top three priorities amongst our
membership. As the financial pressures from implementing the new national
living wage mount, VODG is seeking to promote greater collaboration amongst providers as well as opportunities to further strengthen partnerships with commissioners. The whole system needs to come together to address critical workforce issues”.
Skills for Care chief executive Sharon Allen said:
“This report reflects the importance that VODG rightly put on creating a skilled and knowledgeable workforce that can deliver high quality services for the people their organisations serve. VODG members have always had an ability to think creatively to meet the big challenges ahead, and this report reflects the ideas generated by a very challenging, but productive, summit.”
Charityworks chief executive Rachel Whale said:
“The workforce challenges charities face at the moment are daunting, and are only made worse when organisations isolate themselves rather than making the most of the sector’s common voice. Our best opportunity is to work in a connected and collaborative way, helping organisations of all sizes recruit and
develop brilliant people. We believe Charityworks is part of the solution, providing both a cost-effective way of recruiting and developing talented graduates, as well as being a rich network of non-profit organisations working together to be more than the sum of their parts.”