The Contribution Of EU Workers In The Social Care Workforce In Scotland 2022

6. Conclusions

The estimate of the percentage of EU nationals employed within social care and childcare in Scotland was 5.0%. The corresponding figure from the 2018 study was 5.6%. The 0.6% decrease is not statistically significant.

There was some variation by sub-sector. In the childcare sector the percentage of EU nationals was 3.8%, compared to 5.9% in 2018. In the adult social care sector overall, 5.4% of staff were EU nationals, compared to 5.5% in 2018. This difference is not significant.

However, compared to the 2018 study more managers reported difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in the social care sector. Over three quarters of respondents who had tried to recruit staff said the process had become more difficult over recent years, a marked increase on the proportion who said likewise in 2018. Compounding these difficulties, respondents reported a drop in applications from EU nationals in the last 12 months across all staff types, and in particular among NMC registered nurses and auxiliary staff.

The retention of staff had also become more challenging since 2018. Almost three in five (58%) said it had become more difficult to retain staff, compared to 26% in 2018. In terms of EU staff specifically, the results suggest increased difficult retaining these staff in comparison to 2018 across all staff types. Furthermore, over a quarter said EU staff had left their service in the last 12 months, compared to 14% in 2018. Among the most common reasons EU staff gave for leaving their service included to take up a better job elsewhere, relocation to an EU country and Brexit or COVID-related concerns.

The qualitative research echoed the findings from the survey. Managers spoke of mounting challenges in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff, which they attributed to a number of different factors. Key among these were low pay and wage competition, a competitive job market and Brexit. The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 was widely mentioned as exacerbating staff shortages and heightening the challenges in recruiting and retaining staff.

It is difficult to disentangle the impact of Brexit specifically from COVID-19 and a emergence of a more competitive job maket. However, it is clear that Brexit, and a corresponding decline in the number of available EU nationals applying for jobs and working in the sector, means that the sector now has less flexibility to respond to ongoing labour supply challenges.

Overall, the research confirms ongoing labour market issues within sector and points to challenges that must be overcome in order to improve current and future recruitment and retention within the sector. The managers who took part in the qualitative research had a number of suggestions for how to meet some of these future challenges and make the sector more attractive to job seekers. For example, improving pay and working conditions across the sector; and improved messaging and media coverage to raise the profile and reputation of the social care, focusing on the rewarding nature of the work and career opportunities within the sector.

Recently, employers, representative bodies and the Scottish Government took steps to address the recruitment challenges in the sector, including campaigns to support recruitment in the sector, investment in workforce development, and resourcing to help improve wages^[20]. It is clear that similar and continued efforts will need to be made over the coming years in order to ensure that the sector is able to recruit from as wide a pool of candidates as possible to meet the demands placed upon care services.