National Care Service - adult social care workforce: evidence

6. Conclusion

The previous sections provide a summary of the available evidence on the adult social care workforce and providers in Scotland. It does not go into detail about workforce equalities characteristics as this is covered in Adult Social Care in Scotland - Equality Evidence Overview.

The social care sector is a major employer in Scotland and the number of people employed in adult social care has increased over the past decade. Population projections suggest that Scotland is likely to have more older people and fewer younger people in the coming years, which has implications for the future supply of, and demand for, adult social care. As well as the ageing population, there are other significant challenges facing the sector, including Brexit and Covid-19, and employers are finding it challenging to fill vacancies. There is limited evidence available on workforce projections as these are highly dependent on both social care demand and expenditure and other factors such as population and demographic changes. However, this paper provides insight into some of the main factors that are likely to impact future workforce numbers and the future demand for social care.