The following text field filters the results that follow as you type.
Visa changes reduce overseas care worker numbers, challenging UK care sector.
Published on 13 March, 2025
Author: Markel UK
6 minute read
The number of visas granted to overseas care workers has fallen, creating a new recruitment challenge for the sector
At first glance the most recent report from Skills for Care on the recruitment trends within England’s adult social care sector made positive reading.
The workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, revealed back in October last year that the total number of posts filled in the previous 12 months came to 47,000, up 2.6% – in total there were 1.7 million filled posts in the sector, up 4.2%.
There were 131,000 vacant posts, down an encouraging 14.6% from the year before. As Professor Oonagh Smyth, chief executive of Skills for Care, said: “The adult social care workforce is the biggest it has been since we started counting. There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful.”
Indeed, it showed that people clearly wanted to work in the profession, and at an opportune time too given the expected increase in demand for care services as the UK population ages. Skills for Care estimates that over half a million more care roles will be needed by 2040. That is on top of that 131,000 vacancies figure – which although improving is still three times that of the wider economy.
The main driver of this improved recruitment picture, according to Skills for Care, was the influx of 105,000 international workers. That was up from 80,000 the previous year and just 15,000 in 2020/21. The rise was largely due to the UK government adding care workers to the "Shortage Occupation List" in February 2022, making it easier for overseas workers to obtain a "Health and Care Worker" visa.
Disincentivising overseas workers
But, as pointed out by Smyth in the report this stream of recruitment is “vulnerable” to less positive changes in immigration policy. Indeed, from 11 March 2024, direct care workers arriving from outside of the UK were no longer allowed to bring dependants – partners and/or children – on their visas. Care providers sponsoring international recruits were also required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Following the announcement of these changes, according to data from the Home Office, the number of Health and Care Worker visas granted has decreased. In the year ending June 2024 there was a 26% decrease in visas granted to applicants. There was also a notable fall in visa applications over the last quarter, between April and June 2024, 81% lower than the same period in 2023.
There are concerns that the lower number is likely to continue. In the quarter April to June 2024, there were an estimated 8,000 international recruits joining the workforce in direct care roles in the independent sector in England. That is a substantial decrease on the previous year where there was an average of 26,000 per quarter. The second quarter of 2025 saw a marginal improvement but only to 10,000 workers.
Mike Padgham, owner of Saint Cecilia’s Care Group, which runs two nursing homes, three residential homes and a day centre in Yorkshire – employing 250 people – believes recruitment overall is becoming more challenging.
“I’ve been in this profession for 36 years. It has always been hard. You are constantly recruiting; we’ve never not got a vacancy. But it is tougher now,” he says. “Overseas recruitment has really helped us in recent times. It’s slowed the crisis down and if it wasn’t for that we would have been really struggling. Not just us as a provider but the sector in general. We have got an awful long way to go to get to the figures we need in 2040.”
Calls for increased investment in pay, working conditions and career opportunities
Recruiting at home and abroad
He is also concerned that international numbers will keep declining, not just because of the changes to visa policy but government plans to more than double the fees employers must pay to sponsor overseas staff on skilled worker visas 1. That is on top of the increases in employer national insurance and the living wage as announced in last year’s Budget.
One solution to the international issue, as proposed by Care England, is to restore the right for overseas workers to bring their dependants with them. It also calls for increased investment in the sector to enhance pay, working conditions and career opportunities for both international and domestic care workers.
Padgham says: “We obviously want to recruit more people from this country but the big elephant in the room is pay. It is hard to attract British people into this profession when they get paid less than people who are stacking shelves. The anti-social working hours can also be an issue. When we do recruit, we lose people to better paid jobs elsewhere. We have to increase pay and pension entitlements.” According to Skills for Care the median hourly rate for care workers in March 2024 was £11.00, which is 58p higher than the national living wage.
Seizing opportunities
Smyth said there should also be more focus on things like training and infrastructure. “Other sectors can respond to improved care worker pay by increasing their own – but it’ll be harder for them to compete with better-paid care roles that are also rewarding, meaningful and come with great opportunities to learn and grow,” she says.
St Cecilia’s has tried to attract more domestic workers through perks and rewards such as discounted shopping in local supermarkets and extra increments in pay for length of service. It also works hard to create pathways for staff which could lead them to one day owning their own home. “We do a lot of skills training. This is a great career and so rewarding,” Padgham says. “It can be a great launchpad for people. This is the time and opportunity to better organise the sector, so we don’t let our staff and clients down.”
- Sponsorship fees for overseas staff
- All other facts from Skills for Care