Applications for social care jobs dropped by 13.4% in January, according to the latest data from online jobs board CV-Library.

The study, which explored job market data from January 2020 and compared this with findings from the same period in 2019, revealed that this is despite employers in the industry advertising 25.1% more jobs last month than a year ago.

Lee Biggins, CEO and Founder of CV-Library, commented: “Our data clearly shows that, despite employers’ efforts to push forward with their hiring last month, candidates are still hesitant to apply for new jobs. This presents a real issue for the sector, which is under a huge amount of pressure to provide care for the ageing population and other vulnerable members of society.”

Interestingly, the data also reveals that average salaries for new social care roles have fallen by 4.8%, which may have contributed to the drop in applications.

“Think about how you can make your roles sound more appealing. What makes you stand out against the competition? And why should someone want to work for you? Restoring confidence in the sector’s workforce will be crucial for plugging the skills gap, so it’s worth making this a priority,” Lee advised.

www.cv-library.co.uk