Innovations to attract, recruit and retain social care staff

Key messages 

• staff turnover in social care is shaped by pay, conditions and progression opportunities 

• recruitment initiatives include fast-tracked learning routes, apprenticeships and graduate programmes 

• national recruitment campaigns have been used to raise the profile of social care work 

• evidence on the effectiveness of innovations is uneven 

• most evaluated initiatives pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Policy implications 

• workforce strategies should combine recruitment with retention-focused approaches 

• learning and progression pathways may support workforce stability 

• national initiatives need alignment with local labour market conditions 

• future policy should build on a stronger and more current evidence base. 

Gaps 

• much of the evidence is pre-pandemic 

• limited evaluation of long-term impacts on retention 

• variation in study quality and outcome measures 

• insufficient insight from staff into lived experiences of innovations. 

Commentary 

This rapid review highlights the range of approaches that have been used to attract and retain social care workers in the UK. Initiatives such as apprenticeships, accelerated learning routes and national campaigns reflect ongoing attempts to stabilise a workforce facing high turnover. 

The findings also show how limited the evidence base remains. While many innovations appear promising, few have been robustly evaluated, making it difficult to assess which approaches genuinely improve retention over time. The predominance of pre-pandemic studies could arguably limit their relevance to current workforce pressures. 

Thinking about equitable social care, the review raises questions about who benefits from workforce innovations. Access to training, apprenticeships and progression opportunities may vary by role, region and personal circumstances, potentially reinforcing existing inequities within the workforce. Where initiatives focus on entry rather than conditions, they may do little to address the factors that drive turnover among lower-paid or marginalised workers. 

Overall, the review suggests that improving workforce sustainability requires more than isolated innovations. Building equitable and effective recruitment and retention strategies depends on better evidence, attention to working conditions and a clearer understanding of how initiatives affect different groups within the social care workforce.