Social carers are the only section of the UK workforce to list non-salary factors as their prime consideration when looking for a job, according to research carried out by specialist care recruitment agency Randstad Care.

A poll of over 10,000 UK workers found that workers from every sector and industry in the UK list cash and benefits as their number one consideration when choosing a new employer. The only exception is social workers for whom long term job security, listed by 22% of social workers, is the top priority when choosing a new employer.

Social workers also come second only to lawyers when it comes to the importance of an employer’s reputation for quality of service. Suggesting a core of workers, almost one in twenty (4%) consider the quality of their prospective employer’s service above all other factors when choosing who to work for. This means they rank quality of service ahead of all issues including pay, job security, location, convenience, work-life balance, or even a pleasant working atmosphere.

Victoria Short, managing director of Randstad Care, commented: “We all want fulfilment and a sense of purpose, while also getting the salary we deserve. Anyone’s dream job would encapsulate both sides of that puzzle. Yet those in the care profession are unique in the importance they place on quality of service to others.”

She added: “Recent changes to the funding of social care in the public sector have also pushed security of employment up the agenda for the profession. So while the wider benefits of the job have always been more important to carers, it’s no surprise that the factor to push hard cash off the top spot would be job security.”