Government launches latest recruitment campaign

The government has launched its recruitment campaign encouraging people to follow a career in adult social care.

‘Made with Care’ will run across broadcast and social media for five months. It follows previous campaigns, including Every Day Is Different in 2019, which focused on people aged 20 to 39, highlighting opportunities for progression and professional development.

However, the number of vacancies in the sector has remained above 100,000 in the sector, currently standing at 105,000, data from Skills for Care has shown.

The latest campaign follows the announcement of £5.4bn of funding from 2023 to reform social care over three years, including £500m to support training and career development for the workforce.

‘I am dedicated to making working in social care not just emotionally rewarding but a career opportunity with future development for people,’ said minister for care Gillian Keegan.

‘We are investing record amounts into social care making this is an exciting time to join the workforce and play an important role in helping to develop a world-leading social care system as we bring forward our plans for reform later this year.’

The campaign will run to March and will highlight vacancies in the sector as well as showcasing the work care workers do.

It has been launched as the government publishes its winter plan for social care, setting out how it aims to support the sector over the coming months.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: ‘If the government is serious about recruitment, its first move should be to ensure care workers get a decent pay rise. Any ad campaign pushing a job without sick pay, where poor treatment and exploitation are rife, will struggle to succeed.’