As our population ages, demand for care workers has never been higher – and yet a whopping 24% of care workers leave their jobs within the first year of work, leaving a serious shortage of new recruits to fill their shoes.

It’s a sector that is infamous for low pay, limited career pathways, and high staff turnover. This is partly because it has attracted business owners who see it as a highly profitable opportunity, and partly because Government do not invest enough funding for social care, driving the ‘value’ of this invaluable service down month by month.

Yet it is a thoroughly rewarding sector with very many varied career paths for young people - and recession free for those looking for a career change later in life, or a sustainable job to take them into their own old age.

Statistics show that 922,000 young people in the UK aged between 16-24 are not in full time education, employment or training – the challenge then, is how to encourage these young people to enter the social care industry?

There are apprenticeships into social care that can teach the business and administration side of the job as well as the care work, giving a rounded enough learning experience that graduates are happy to undertake them and then climb the ladder into management. On the whole however, the value to be found in working within the sector has yet to be promoted successfully to young people.

Laura Anthony from Skills from Care says; “A career in social care is obviously very rewarding,” confirms Laura Anthony, regional coordinator for Skills for Care, an employer-led authority on the training and development needs of social care staff. “And there are lots of opportunities for progression: You can become the manager of a home, go into social work, housing education, counselling. With social care you get a lot of training on the job. If you’re ambitious, you can go right to the top.”

If you’re a successful, small care company – how do you encourage young people to enter into care, so you can retain a loyal staff base?

We believe the answers are simple:

• Care providers should put clients and staff happiness ahead of annual profits.
• Care staff should be seen as a valuable asset, to nurture and retain long term.
• Students and young people should be encouraged to join the sector with paid traineeships.
• Staff remuneration should be above the minimum wage.
• A varied programme of training should be offered free of charge in-house.
• Flexibility should be paramount for all carers regardless of their terms of contract.

Not all care providers would agree with us, and very few would have the business model that would allow them to focus so greatly on their staff and their clients. Working for a small, family run care provider can give those new to the care sector the very best start to their career. That’s what Absolute Healthcare strive to do - and we believe we do it well.

One of our regular carers, Hannah Lilley, says; “I love (almost!!) everything about care work. Since a young child I have been a very caring person and working for Absolute only developed this further. It enabled me to build relationships with the clients, empowering them to live mostly independently in their own homes. I love talking to them and hearing all their different stories they have to tell me about their interesting lives.”

Our Director of Care, Louise Jeffrey, is a registered nurse with many years of community and emergency nursing experience. Her knowledge and registration, allow Absolute Healthcare staff to benefit from training and skills they would not necessarily get in other companies.

Hannah says, “I was given extensive training, including online training covering a wide range of topics including food safety, fire safety, whistle-blowing and professional training from local practitioners in areas like First Aid. My training has continued throughout my time with Absolute, and this is very important for the job, ensuring that my skills and knowledge are up to date and I am carrying out safe practice.”

Absolute Healthcare offer all carers access to training in first aid, complex care, lifting & handling, dementia care (amongst others) and everyone works towards their national care certificate. We pay good money, we’re very flexible with working patterns, we’re family friendly (very used to visits from little people!) and most importantly we have a lovely group of regular clients who we’ve continued to look after for years.

If you’re considering a career in care – why not give us a call or pop in for an informal chat about the work, and whether it’s what you’re looking for. Call Catherine today on 01420 769568 or visit our facebook page www.facebook.com/careinhampshire