Skills for Care’s 2026 Workforce Report: What It Means for Care Providers

What the 2026 report found

The report, The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, was published on 14 October 2026 and covers 2025/26 (Skills for Care: the State of report). Its headline figures, first released by Skills for Care in June, are mixed (Skills for Care, June 2026):

• a vacancy rate of 6.2%, around 96,000 vacancies on any given day, down 10.5% on the year;
• 22,000 more filled posts, a rise of 1.4% and the slowest growth in four years;
• about 30,000 international recruits arriving directly from abroad, the lowest in four years;
• 40,000 fewer posts filled by British nationals over the year;
• a projected need for a further 410,000 posts by 2040.

In short, recruitment is easier than it was, but the pipeline is narrowing, and the sector will need many more people over the next 15 years.

Retention: what the data says works

The most useful finding for providers is on retention. Care England’s response on 14 October highlights that turnover was 15.3% among workers with five positive employment factors, against 34.3% among those with none. The factors are competitive pay, guaranteed hours, training, qualifications and the chance of full-time work (Care England, 14 October 2026).

Leadership matters too. Care worker turnover averaged 28.3% where the registered manager had been in post for under a year, against 20.6% where they had been in post for 20 years or more, while registered manager turnover itself rose from 17% to 19.7%. Care England also noted that workers with five or more years’ experience earn, on average, just 12p an hour more than those with less than a year.

Employer costs and the Fair Pay Agreement

Pay costs are already higher this year. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026, and employers pay National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year, offset by an Employment Allowance of £10,500 for those eligible (GOV.UK: rates and thresholds for employers).

The next step is collective bargaining. The government confirmed on 16 July 2026 that the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will be set up by the end of 2026, with negotiations starting in April 2027 and the first Fair Pay Agreement due to be introduced by April 2028, backed by £500 million (GOV.UK: Fair Pay Agreements). Providers and workers will both have voting rights on pay and terms.

What it means for a care provider’s finances

The report’s message is that investing in staff, managers and training pays back in retention, and that the providers best placed for a Fair Pay Agreement are those already moving towards it. That investment often comes before the income that justifies it. Recruitment finance can carry new posts and management roles while occupancy or contracts build, and working capital can bridge the gap between paying staff weekly or monthly and being paid by commissioners.

Better working environments also help keep staff. Refurbishment finance covers staff areas and resident spaces, equipment finance covers hoists, beds and care technology, and vehicle finance can help domiciliary teams that rely on cars. For providers with long-term plans, premises finance and our page on growing a practice cover expansion.

Practical steps for providers

• Benchmark your turnover against the report’s figures.
• Check how many of the five retention factors your roles offer.
• Budget for pay rises ahead of a Fair Pay Agreement.
• Plan investment in managers and training as part of the same budget.

We search the market across 300+ lenders and approach those that understand care providers. Our guide to preparing a finance application explains what lenders usually ask for, and Instant Quotes shows your matches in minutes, with no credit check.

Common questions

Published 17 October 2026. Figures and dates are taken from the sources named and were correct on that date. This article is for general information only and should not be treated as legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Funding availability and lender requirements depend on individual circumstances.