The Staff Vacancies in Care Services 2024 report, published today by the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), provides data on vacancies reported by care services as at 31 December 2024. It is based on information registered care services provided to the Care Inspectorate.
Key points in the report
Vacancies were reported in 44% of care services, an improvement from 48% at 31 December 2023, and the high of 49% in 2022.
Of service types with more than 100 services, housing support services, care at home services, care homes for older people and care homes for adults faced the most challenge filling vacancies.
Midlothian, Edinburgh, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire had a significantly higher proportion of services with vacancies than the national average for all care services.
In nine of the 32 local authority areas, 50% or more services reported vacancies. This has decreased from 12 of 32 local authority areas at 31 December 2023.
At 31 December 2024, the rate of whole time equivalent (WTE) vacancies per 100 WTE workforce for all services in Scotland was 6.4%, down from 7.5% in 2023.
Childcare agencies (35.3%, although this relates to a small number of services), nurse agency services (22.3%) and housing support services (8.1%) had a significantly higher rate of WTE vacancies than the national average.
At 31 December 2024, 41% of services reported having nursing vacancies (where services employed nurses). This was a decrease of 11 percentage points in the proportion of services with nursing vacancies at 31 December 2023 (52%).
The rate of WTE nursing vacancies for all services that employed nurses in Scotland was 7.2%, down from 12.4% in 2023.
At 31 December 2024, 61% of all services reported having problems filling their vacancies, down 2 percentage points on 2023. This varied by type of service and geographical area.
The most common reasons services gave for vacancies being hard to fill are too few applicants with experience, too few applicants and too few qualified applicants.
Supporting the workforce
Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: 'The report highlights the extent of the current recruitment and retention challenges being faced by the social care sector at a time when services are experiencing continued pressure.
'We know there are still many parts of the social care sector finding it challenging to fill vacancies, and this has been a persistent issue for several years. We remain grateful for the dedication and commitment of the skilled and qualified workforce during a time that remains challenging due to continued demands on staff and services.'
Maree Allison, Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council, said: 'It’s essential we continue to prioritise our work to attract people into careers in social services, providing accessible training, learning and qualifications for people before and after they join the workforce. We need to make sure workers feel valued, respected and supported to continue their social service careers.
'This report is just one aspect of the workforce planning activities undertaken by the Care Inspectorate and the SSSC. Both organisations continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and others to help employers to recruit, retain and develop their staff.'