Careers in Care: A Route In for Young People and a Fix for Staffing

Britain has two problems that look separate but are closely linked. Many young people cannot find work, and social care cannot find enough people to fill its jobs. Put them together and there is an obvious question: could one help solve the other?

A founder working in recruitment technology thinks so. Here is the case for careers in care, and what would need to change for it to work.

Two shortages with one possible answer

Youth unemployment sits above 14%, and close to a million young people are not in education, employment or training. Meanwhile social care has around 150,000 unfilled roles. Staff turnover is about 31%, which is more than double the UK average.

The argument is that this is less a shortage of people than a failure to connect them with the work.

Why careers in care suit young people

Care is one of the easiest ways into work. You do not always need formal qualifications to start, jobs are available straight away, and the work has a clear purpose. For young people looking for direction and stability, that can be life-changing. It also offers early responsibility, real human connection and a path into wider careers in health, nursing and social work.

Yet under-25s make up around 12% of the economically active population and just 7% of the social care workforce. Turnover in that age group is as high as 38%. That points to a problem with engaging and keeping young people, not a lack of interest.

The barriers are familiar: a belief that pay is low, worries about progression and the emotional weight of the job. These concerns are real and need tackling, but they are not the whole story.

Put another way, the sector already has plenty of what young people say they want: meaningful work, quick entry and room to grow. What it struggles with is getting that message across and backing it up once people arrive.

What could unlock the opportunity

• Rethink how care is presented. Job boards alone do not reach young people. They respond to stories, visibility and examples of people like them doing well in the role.
• Build structured entry routes. Training academies, apprenticeships and partnerships with schools and colleges give people a supported way in. Where these exist, both recruitment and retention improve.
• Deal with retention directly. Low pay is a major reason people leave for jobs elsewhere. Better pay, clearer progression and a healthier workplace culture are essential rather than optional.
• Use technology to speed up hiring. The current process is slow, complicated and exclusionary for a generation used to immediacy and transparency. Connecting motivated candidates directly with employers and cutting the time to hire could open the door to people who are often overlooked.

A career, not just a job

Each of these changes works better alongside the others. Good storytelling brings people in, structured training helps them settle, fair pay and progression keep them there, and faster hiring means nobody gives up while waiting for an answer.

If the ambitions of young people can be lined up with what the care sector needs, two national challenges can be tackled together: fewer young people out of work and a stronger social care workforce.

These views come from Karan Elvin, founder of No More Recruiters. His closing point is a simple one. For many young people, care could be the start of a career, a purpose and a future, and that is worth getting right for everyone involved.