Most social workers disagree with the use of market supplements to attract and retain staff, a Community Care poll has found.
This follows a 2024 Local Government Association survey, which revealed that 44% offered market supplements to attract children’s social workers, compared to 29% for mental health practitioners and 24% for adults’ professionals.
The majority (63.5%) of about 1,255 respondents to the poll said improving working conditions, not financial incentives, was the key to attracting and keeping staff.
The rest (36.5%) considered market supplements a “great tool to help ease vacancy rates”.
‘Salaries are poor and social workers are resorting to food banks'
Comments under the related article cited poor pay and worsening conditions as root causes of recruitment and retention problems.
Amelia, an agency worker, said she wouldn’t accept a retention bonus because “it is heavily tax, but if you leave the service, [they] want the full amount back, which is unfair”.
“[We need] bigger social work teams [so] caseloads [can be] significantly lower [and] quality work can be undertaken with our most vulnerable children and families.”
She further noted the impact of the cost of living on social workers, calling for better financial rewards to help them achieve a better quality of life.
“The main issues are that the salary is poor, and I know many social workers are having to go to food banks and/or have debt management in place,” she added.
Practitioners 'doing more for less'
Martin said social workers were being asked to do more with less.
His council’s recent restructuring had promoted many frontline staff into managerial roles, leaving “significant gaps” on the ground and piling additional casework onto remaining staff.
He added: “We also have high levels of sickness absence, which has led to an increase in agency staff. We often have to redo their work. It’s no wonder recruitment and retention are an issue!”
‘It’s not as simple as financially rewarding practitioners’
He was echoed by Misky, who said: “The retention issue in my experience is about being constantly asked to do more with less (less time with families, less resource, more expectations), coupled with the hatred thrown at us by the general public, media and, sometimes, partner agencies.”
She stressed that financial incentives alone were not enough - social workers needed to be “emotionally rewarded and supported”.
“That needs the best of supervision by your manager and managers who can think beyond their budget responsibilities. I don’t think it’s anywhere near as simple as financially rewarding social workers.
'From supporting families to satisfying inspectors'
Another practitioner said that social work has shifted away from supporting families toward satisfying inspectors in recent years.
“When I qualified, in the late 1990s, social work was about bringing change to disadvantaged children and their families. My experience in recent years has been that the primary aim is to ensure positive inspection results,” they said.
“I have not felt professionally valued by other agencies [or the] government for many years. The current employment and retention issues are further hindering the ongoing issues. It’s not all about money.”
Celebrate those who've inspired you
Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can't help but gush about?
Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.
Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com
