COVID-19 Survey

This page contains Skills for Care analysis of a survey distributed by Care Management Matters looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the adult social care workforce, particularly recruitment and retention. The survey was completed on 31 March 2020, by 211 adult social care providers.

Key findings

Based on the 211 providers who responded:

• On average, the providers reported 25% of their workforce was currently unable to work due to covid related issues. The most common reason being self-isolation due to symptoms or living with someone with symptoms (10%). Other workers were absent due to concerns about catching the virus (6%), shielding (4%) or due to childcare issues (5%).
• 34% of providers reported they urgently needed more staff with a further 42% anticipating they’d need more staff in the coming months
• The majority of providers reported that most of their staff (but not all) were receiving key worker exemption allowing them to keep their children at school.
• 39% of providers noted an increase in applications and 54% were taking on temporary staff. There was little evidence of a reduction in the quality of applicants yet.
• 36% of providers also noted volunteers coming forward – although many (49%) were not sure how best to utilise them yet.