Care worker vacancies 2026: Skills for Care data

The headline numbers (2025/26)

Filled posts: 1.59 million, up about 22,000 (1.4%).
Vacancies: 96,000 vacant posts, a 6.2% vacancy rate. That is about 11,500 (10.5%) fewer than in 2024/25. Domiciliary care has the highest rate (8.7%) and residential care the lowest (3.8%).
Turnover: 22.1%, or roughly 320,000 leavers. Turnover among care and support workers (26.9%) is at the lowest point in the reporting period.
Recruiting from within: half (50%) of new starters came from elsewhere in adult social care.
People: about 1.46 million people work in the sector, with an average age of 44.

International recruitment: the turn

The report notes that new overseas applicants have not been able to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa since July 2025. The effect is clear:

an estimated 30,000 internationally recruited direct care workers joined the independent sector in 2025/26, down from 50,000 the year before;
in April to June 2026, around 2,000 joined. In the previous year, the average was 7,500 a quarter;
about 150,000 posts were filled by people on Health and Care Worker visas at March 2026.

Meanwhile, domestic recruitment remains hard. British workers filled 85% of posts in 2020/21 and 67% in 2025/26, a fall of 130,000 posts, including 40,000 in the last year. Put together, the sector's lower vacancy rate now rests on slower growth and better retention, not on a rising inflow of new workers.

What keeps people

The report's turnover analysis compares care workers in March 2025 and March 2026:

care workers with all five "positive employment factors" had turnover of 15.3%, against 34.3% for those with none. The factors are pay at or above the local average, guaranteed hours, full-time work, training and a relevant qualification;
turnover was 28.3% where the registered manager had been in post less than a year, and 20.6% where they had 20 or more years in the role;
zero-hours care workers had 29.8% turnover, compared with 19.1% for those contracted for 35 hours or more;
internationally recruited care workers were less likely to leave (21.6%) than those recruited domestically (38.2%).

Skills for Care also found that higher care worker pay and more staff per bed were associated with better CQC scores. These are associations, not proof of cause.

Pay and conditions

The median hourly rate for independent-sector care and support workers was £12.60 in March 2026. About a quarter (24%) of independent employers said they pay care workers more than Statutory Sick Pay, and 26% said they pay more than the minimum 3% pension contribution. Around a fifth (21%) of the workforce is on zero-hours contracts, rising to 34% in domiciliary care.

Looking ahead

If the workforce grows in line with the population aged 65 and over, England will need around 410,000 more posts (24%) by 2040, taking total posts (filled and vacant) from 1.69 million to 2.09 million.

What this means for your service

Plan as if overseas recruitment is not coming back. The data shows the drop clearly.
Look at the five retention factors. Pay at local average or above, guaranteed hours, full-time options, training and qualifications all go with lower turnover. Check which ones your service offers.
Protect your registered manager. Manager experience links to both lower turnover and better ratings.
Recruit from within the sector, fairly. Half of starters already come from other care employers. Competing on conditions, not just pay, matters.
Use your sponsored staff's lower turnover well. Retain them through clear progression, within the visa rules.
Check your local figures. Skills for Care publishes regional and local authority summaries.