Skills for Care said England’s adult social care workforce had about 1.71 million posts in 2024/25, with roughly 1.6 million filled and about 111,000 vacant.
The 7% vacancy rate marks a calmer picture than the sector’s recruitment-crisis peak, but providers still report persistent staffing strain rather than an easy labor market.
Care homes are competing for a limited domestic workforce while absorbing higher employment costs, tighter immigration and compliance pressures, and growing demands for flexible, predictable staffing.
Those pressures are intensifying as residents present greater frailty and more complex dementia needs, pushing workforce planning from day-to-day rota management to a board-level issue.
The shift follows a period when the 2022 health and care worker visa route helped many providers widen recruitment pools and reduce pressure on permanent teams.