Most home care bosses opt to recruit in UK despite easing of immigration rules

The majority of home care bosses (58 per cent) have said they will not be seeking overseas recruitment and will instead focus on hiring locally to fill job vacancies, despite care workers being added to the government’s Shortage Occupation List (SOL).

The stark reality was revealed by a recent poll of 296 home care providers in England. The members of the Homecare Association gave a variety of reasons for their decision which included the cost and complexity of sponsorship and the issue of foreign workers not having a valid driving licence or car to do the job.

The government announced last December that care workers would be added to its list of occupations with a shortage of skilled workers on 15 February – a change supposed to make it easier for the care sector to recruit from abroad. However, bosses have said the application process is bureaucratic, expensive and far from quick.

Home care providers surveyed also said they would not be hiring from abroad because of an inability to meet the minimum salary requirement. To qualify to work in the UK, carers will need to earn an annual salary minimum of £20,480 – equivalent to £10.10 an hour.

For the full story visit the homecare.co.uk website.