Continued focus on child protection creates war for talent

In the aftermath of the Baby P case and the subsequent spotlight on child protection, we continue to see a huge demand for quality and experienced social workers. As a result we’re starting to see a number of trends emerging that are affecting the recruitment process as employers pull out all the stops. But is it working?

As children’s departments continue to be under intense scrutiny to perform, the need to attract the best talent on the market is becoming increasingly competitive. Whether they are tempting social workers with additional pay rates, counter offering to keep staff or creating permanent roles to meet the demands of temporary social workers looking for job security, employers are going to every length possible.

We are tending to find that pay is not always the answer – not to move to a new organisation anyway.

We are tending to find that pay is not always the answer – not to move to a new organisation anyway. Moving organisations appears to be a risky move for most and social workers would rather stay put; a trend which is likely to be fuelled by counter offers and contract extensions; having said that, expectations over pay are rising as employers compete for the best talent. It will be interesting to see how this affects future recruitment when we start to see the supply and demand balance return to previous levels.

However it’s not totally a candidate’s market. Hiring managers, although keen to respond to the candidates’ needs cannot afford to recruit the wrong person. There is an increased reluctance to recruit social workers who don’t have specific experience in a given field meaning that there is now less flexibility on using transferable skills. The impact of this is yet to be seen but some in the sector are concerned that this could simply reduce a pool of talent which is already relatively small.