News

Employability scheme fills London’s care work vacancies

21 Mar 2025

An innovative employability scheme is helping to fill South London’s chronic and rising shortage of social care workers.

It has seen care sector employers offering three-week placements to residents, paid at the London Living Wage and including professional training.

Led by South London Partnership (SLP), one of London’s sub-regional partnerships, the initiative has been available to residents of Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton.

SLP has sourced potential employers and funded the placements while employability specialist Ingeus has co-ordinated and promoted the scheme.

The 12-month programme, which comes to an end on 31 March, supports people to decide if a job in the care sector is right for them and enables employers to gauge if the applicant is a good fit for the role.

Jobs on offer have included hands-on carers, activities co-ordinators, field care supervisors and finance and HR positions.

Open to anybody out of work with a desire to get into social care, it included groups under-represented in the sector such as those aged 50+, people with learning difficulties, men in care, and lone parents.

Funded as part of the Integrated Care Partnership Strategy (ICPS) to help tackle workforce challenges, it was launched as the vacancy rate in the Capital last year was the highest in the country at 12.1 per cent, equivalent to 22,000 empty posts, according to charity Skills for Care.

Fiona Oakes, SLP Programme Lead, says: “The ICPS reported that employers were facing difficulties filling roles, training providers had identified communities under-represented in the sector and residents wanted more consistent and better trained carers.”

More than 250 residents have come forward with 50 progressing through group interviews to gain a placement, which includes on-the-job training and support.

Fiona adds: “It’s definitely been an incentive to employers and boosted recruitment into this sector. It offers opportunities for both employers and residents, who gain security and support in a paid placement.

“Ingeus has been an integral part of the programme, providing on-boarding and pre-placement skills development and support. The team has been incredible.

“Its presence in the wider South London Skills and Employment initiative has led to a rapid transformation in this field. Ingeus has made significant advances in working with both economically inactive and unemployed local people.”

Purley resident Lou was one of those who gained a placement. The 47-year-old had believed, as English is her second language having been born in West Africa, her communication skills weren’t good enough to work in the care sector.

However, at the end of the three weeks she was offered a permanent position and her employer is funding professional qualifications that could enable her to advance her career.

She says: “I was out of work for about nine months. I had been a cleaner but wanted to work in the care sector – I was used to doing that at home where we look after our older relatives.

“Now I’ve got a job in domiciliary care and travel to support people in their own homes. It’s a really nice job. I like meeting and helping people and I want to move into a full time caring role. Having work is important. It makes a big difference to your life.”

Lisa Burley, Senior Performance Improvement Manager for Ingeus’ SLP programme team, says: “The perception of jobs in social care is that it’s zero hour contracts and minimum wage. We are trying to dispel that myth and work with employers to provide good, well-paid and secure employment.

“We ran a campaign including job fairs and promoting it to Jobcentre Plus. We engaged hard-to-reach groups including Jewish, Hong Kong and Tamil communities.

“Even those who fail to secure a place come out with a package of employability skills including CVs tailored for the care sector, NHS-recognised training, interview skills and increased confidence.”