Does the media speak for the social care sector?

In the news today, you’ll see countless stories detailing the challenges our social care sector is facing. However, this image is at odds with the incredible dedication and optimism voiced by many of our customers in our daily conversations.

That’s why we decided to dig a little deeper with this research — we wanted to understand the sentiment in the sector, why so many people were leaving it and what place technology has in supporting them to stay.

Our findings

Our survey identified a workforce that was predominantly happy in their role. Reflecting these high levels of happiness in their jobs, only a small minority of respondents said they wanted to leave the care sector:

• Respondents had an average happiness ranking of 7.9 in which 1 was ‘very unhappy’ and 10 ‘very happy’.
• Those in senior management roles appeared to be more satisfied (8.9) compared to those in frontline roles (8.2) or management positions (7.7).
• Only 4% of respondents said they wanted to leave the care sector.

The survey also revealed a workforce that is drawn to the sector for altruistic reasons:

• 81% of respondents that ‘purpose’ was ‘very important’ to them in their role, the most popular response from a predefined list.
• ‘Knowing that the job was done well’ was the most popular type of reward for respondents (56% selected this as their first choice) compared to a quarter (24%) selecting ‘money’.
• 83% of respondents reported that ‘passion for caring for others’ attracted them to the care sector, while more than three-quarters (77%) selected ‘making a difference’ as a reason.

However, the stressors of the pandemic have exacerbated some of the unpleasant factors associated with working in social care:

• Just under half (45%) of respondents reported that the ‘workload’ was the factor they disliked most about their role.
• 37% disliked their ‘work-life balance’ and 14%were unhappy with their ‘level of responsibility’.

Download the full report