What do care workers actually think about their jobs?

Are they getting enough support? Do they feel they have opportunities to develop? And what makes people consider leaving?

These are important questions for anyone responsible for a social care workforce.

The latest findings from the Adult Social Care Workforce Survey offer useful insight into how care workers feel about their jobs, their wellbeing and their opportunities to develop.

The second wave of the survey, conducted between August and October 2025 and published by the Department of Health and Social Care on 2 July 2026, involved 3,008 adult social care workers in England. It explored wellbeing, working conditions, learning and development, experiences of violence and abuse, career plans and intentions to leave. You can read the official survey findings.

Skills for Care’s annual State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report, published on 14 October 2026 and covering 2025/26, adds a more recent picture of recruitment, retention, pay and workforce trends.

Together, these sources offer a useful picture of what staff experience and the wider workforce challenges facing care providers.

Further workforce research is now underway. Skills for Care is inviting adult social care workers to take part in its 2026 workforce survey, which asks about working life, wellbeing and support, training and development, career plans, and what influences people to stay in or leave the sector. The findings are not yet available, so the 2025 survey remains the latest published wave of results. Staff and managers can find details on the Adult Social Care Workforce Survey 2026 page.

So, what can care providers take from the latest evidence?

 

Staff wellbeing has improved, but the picture is mixed

There are some positive signs.

The proportion of workers rating their life satisfaction as high or very high increased from 41% to 51% between the first and second waves of the workforce survey.

The proportion giving high or very high ratings for how worthwhile the things they do in life are increased from 52% to 63%.

Happiness also increased, with 55% reporting high or very high happiness compared with 45% previously.

However, that does not mean workforce wellbeing can be considered solved.

40% of respondents rated their anxiety as high.

The survey also found that 56% of the workforce reported having no or insufficient financial security. Some 69% said the cost of living was too high, 49% felt their hourly rate of pay was too low and 36% cited a lack of sick pay.

For providers, this shows why workforce wellbeing needs to be about more than an occasional wellbeing initiative.

How are staff coping with the pressures they face outside of work? And do managers have opportunities to understand when those pressures are beginning to affect someone’s working life?

 

Staff still want opportunities to develop

Learning and development is another area where the findings are particularly relevant to employers.

In the latest workforce survey, 69% of workers had received an appraisal, annual review or development review in the previous 12 months. This was up from 61% in the first wave.

Among those who had received an appraisal or review, 61% said it helped them agree clear objectives for their work, while 62% said it left them feeling valued. Some 52% said their appraisal helped them improve how they did their job.

The picture around development opportunities was also more positive than in the first survey.

Two-thirds, 66%, agreed that they had opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills. However, only 47% agreed that there were opportunities to develop their career within their organisation.

For a provider, there is a practical difference between these two things.

Giving someone access to a training course is useful. Showing them where that learning could take them within the organisation can give it more purpose.

Can staff see how the training they complete connects to their role, their responsibilities and their future?

The latest annual workforce report from Skills for Care reinforces the importance of development. It found that 26% of responding employers reported using the Care Workforce Pathway, primarily to identify skills gaps and development opportunities.

The report also found that 37% of care workers and support workers held a qualification at Level 2 or above, down from 48% in 2018/19. This highlights the continued importance of accessible training and clear opportunities to develop skills and qualifications.

For providers, the challenge is not simply making training available. It is understanding what people need to learn, how they can access that learning and how it can support their work and longer-term development.

 

Why does this matter for retention?

The workforce survey found that 25% of non-self-employed workers agreed they would leave their organisation as soon as they could find another job.

That was an improvement from 34% in the first wave, but it remains higher than the equivalent figure from the 2024 NHS Staff Survey, where 16% agreed with the same statement.

Among people considering leaving, the most common destination was a job outside health and social care, at 32%, followed by the NHS or healthcare at 21%.

Only 11% said they would want to move to another social care organisation.

It suggests that retaining staff is not simply about competing with another care provider. If people leave the sector altogether, the wider workforce loses their experience.

The latest annual workforce data provides another perspective. In 2025/26, adult social care in England had an estimated 1.59 million filled posts and 96,000 vacant posts. Although vacancies fell by 10.5% compared with the previous year, workforce growth slowed to 1.4%, its lowest rate of growth in four years.

The vacancy rate fell to 6.2%, its lowest level in a decade. These are positive signs, but slower workforce growth and continuing vacancies mean recruitment and retention remain important considerations.

So, what might make someone who is already working in care decide to stay?

 

What makes people think about leaving?

The workforce survey gives providers a clearer picture of some of the reasons.

Among people considering leaving:

• 60% cited the impact of stress and burnout on their health and wellbeing.
• 54% cited income or salary being too low.
• 44% cited a lack of recognition for the sector.
• 43% said they did not feel valued or supported.
• 35% cited a lack of career opportunities.

There is no single solution to these issues, and many of them sit beyond what an individual provider can control.

However, the findings from Skills for Care’s latest annual report offer some useful evidence about the relationship between employment conditions and retention.

The report found that care-worker turnover was 15.3% among workers benefiting from five positive employment factors: competitive local pay, guaranteed hours, training, relevant qualifications and full-time employment. Where none of these factors were in place, turnover was 34.3%.

This does not mean every organisation can offer the same arrangements, or that these factors alone determine whether someone stays. It does, however, highlight the importance of looking at the overall employment experience rather than treating retention as a recruitment issue alone.

There are also areas organisations can look at within their own services.

Do staff know what is expected of them? Do they have access to relevant learning? Do they have opportunities to talk about their development? Do they receive support when work becomes difficult? And can they see where they could go next if they want to build a career?

These questions can be just as relevant to workforce planning as recruitment numbers.

 

Safety is part of workforce wellbeing

Another finding from the workforce survey deserves attention.

41% of social care workers said they had experienced physical violence from people they cared for or supported at least once in the previous year.

Among registered nurses, nursing associates and allied health professionals, the figure was 54%. For senior care workers it was 53%, and for care workers or assistant care workers it was 47%.

Harassment, abuse and bullying were also common, with 39% saying they had experienced this from people they cared for or supported at least once during the previous year.

These experiences were associated with lower care work-related quality of life.

Experiences of distress or aggression need to be understood in the context of individual support needs, communication, health conditions and the circumstances in which incidents occur. At the same time, staff need appropriate support to manage risks and recover after difficult experiences.

For providers, this raises questions about how staff are supported when incidents happen.

Do staff know how to respond safely? Do they know who to speak to afterwards? Are incidents being reviewed properly? And are lessons from those incidents being used to improve practice?

Training, supervision and support all have a role here.

 

Skills and confidence matter

The workforce survey found that 92% of workers felt they had the skills and knowledge needed to do their job well.

At the same time, 35% said they did not have adequate opportunities to develop and progress in social care, while 46% said they often or constantly worried about work outside working hours.

There is a useful distinction here for employers.

Someone can feel confident and competent in their current role while still wanting opportunities to learn more and progress.

Development does not necessarily mean sending everyone on a long qualification. It can involve refresher training, specialist courses, supervision, mentoring, shadowing, additional responsibilities or a clearer pathway towards a more senior role.

Skills for Care’s Care Workforce Pathway is designed to give employers a clearer structure for career development, covering 18 role categories across adult social care.

The latest annual report also found that turnover was lower among care workers where employment and development factors were more favourable. This reinforces the value of considering training alongside other aspects of the working environment, including pay, working hours and opportunities to gain relevant qualifications.

Could your current training and development offer show staff what their next step could look like?

 

The strongest message may be about keeping good people

The longitudinal part of the workforce survey followed 926 people who took part in both survey waves.

It found a relationship between work-related quality of life and retention.

Among workers with a high or very high care work-related quality-of-life score in the first wave, 74% remained in the same role with the same employer two years later. Among those with a low score, the figure was 56%.

Learning and development showed a similar pattern.

Of those who agreed at the first wave that they had opportunities to develop their career within their organisation, 82% were still working for the same employer at wave two. This compared with 69% among those who disagreed.

The research does not prove that career development alone caused people to stay. The report itself cautions against assuming causation.

It is still a relationship worth paying attention to.

The annual workforce report adds another dimension by showing how retention varies alongside employment conditions and workplace factors. It also found lower care-worker turnover in services where registered managers had been in post for longer: 20.6% where managers had 20 years or more of experience, compared with 28.3% where managers had been in post for less than a year.

These findings do not mean that an individual manager’s experience determines staff retention. They do, however, highlight the potential importance of stable leadership and the wider conditions in which teams work.

If people can see opportunities to develop, learn and progress, and feel supported in their working environment, what difference could that make to how they view their future with your organisation?

 

What can care providers take from the findings?

There are several practical questions worth asking within your own service.

Do staff know how they can progress?

If someone wants to move from care worker to senior care worker, supervisor or manager, can they see what skills and experience they need?

Are appraisals useful conversations?

An annual review should be more than a form to complete. It can be an opportunity to discuss confidence, skills, workload, wellbeing and future development.

Are training opportunities accessible?

If staff cannot attend training because of shift patterns, workload or a lack of cover, the issue is not necessarily a lack of interest.

Are there different ways staff could access the learning they need?

Do staff feel safe raising concerns?

Incidents, near misses and difficult experiences need to be taken seriously. A culture where staff can speak up is important for both workforce wellbeing and quality of care.

Are employment arrangements meeting staff needs?

Pay, guaranteed hours and access to relevant training all form part of the wider employment experience. Where possible, understanding what staff value and where difficulties arise can help inform decisions about workforce support.

Are you looking at why people leave?

Exit conversations can provide useful information, particularly when the same themes appear repeatedly.

If several people leave for similar reasons, what might that tell you about the wider workforce experience?

 

The workforce is changing, but some priorities remain

The latest evidence does not provide a simple verdict on the state of social care.

The workforce survey shows improvements in overall wellbeing, appraisals, development opportunities and intentions to leave. It also highlights continuing pressures around financial security, anxiety, stress, violence, career progression and feeling valued.

The annual workforce report provides some encouraging signs, including a fall in vacancies and continued workforce growth. However, growth has slowed, and the sector still faces challenges around recruitment, retention and the conditions that help people build long-term careers.

For care providers, the useful question is not simply what the national figures look like.

It is what they might prompt you to ask about your own workforce.

Does your team have access to relevant training? Are development conversations happening regularly? Do staff know what their next step could be? Are working arrangements helping them balance their responsibilities? And do they feel supported to stay in social care?

A workforce that has access to relevant learning, meaningful development conversations and appropriate support is better placed to maintain confidence in its roles and build longer-term careers in social care.

Although the reports examine different aspects of the workforce, they point to a shared consideration: how can organisations create the conditions in which people feel supported, develop their skills and see a future in social care?