As part of the first national survey of the adult social care workforce in England, the government is interested in hearing social workers' opinions about their working circumstances. The research's findings, according to the Department of Health and Social Care, will be used to guide policies about hiring, retaining, and workforce development. Pay, working hours, and training are among the topics included in the poll, which is being conducted by Skills for Care and the University of Kent. The DHSC is looking for the opinions of 3,000 employees overall, or around 0.2% of the 1.635 million individuals employed in the industry in England, throughout the course of the 11-week survey. Uncompetitive pay and high vacancies The research comes amid widespread pressures on the adult social care workforce driven by, among other factors, pay rates for care staff that have become increasingly uncompetitive with comparable sectors, such as retail and hospitality, as well as with the NHS. While latest figures show vacancy rates falling from an all-time high of 165,000, in March 2022, they were still above 150,000 across the sector as of March this year. For local authority adult social workers specifically, vacancy rates rose from 7.5% to 11.6% from 2020-22, with turnover increasing from 13.6% to 17.1% over the same period. The government is spending £250m over the next two years on developing the workforce – chiefly through increasing access to training and qualifications – but this is half the £500m it originally pledged, with promised actions to enhance wellbeing, track workforce racial inequalities and invest in new routes into social work dropped. However, it has shifted £600m originally destined for social care reform into tackling more immediate pressures on services up to 2025, with the funding principally designed to tackle workforce gaps, including by raising pay. ‘I want social care to be a long-term career choice’ – chief nurse Launching the survey, chief nurse for adult social care Deborah Sturdy said: “To build a social care workforce fit for the future, we need to listen to current staff members, whose hard work and dedication is the cornerstone of the care sector. “I don’t want care work to just be a job, I want it to be a long-term career choice. This survey will expand our knowledge of what is working well for staff as well as, crucially, where additional support can be provided to keep the skilled professionals we already have and bring more people into care roles.”