The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has published the results of its first Have Your Say Workforce Wellbeing Survey on the experiences of people working in the social work, social care and children and young people workforce. The SSSC will carry out the survey every year.
The survey, carried out by Progressive Partnership for the SSSC, asked about wellbeing, pay, terms and conditions, support for and access to training and qualifications and general experiences of working in the sector.
The findings will help the SSSC and key partners, including Scottish Government, to find out more about the experience of working in this field, as well as informing the development of national policies that have an impact on this sector and approaches on how best to support the workforce.
As the workforce regulator the SSSC is in a unique position to gather views from over 176,000 people on its Register who work in social work, social care and children and young people services in Scotland.
The SSSC registers a wide range of different professions in this sector and the findings show that while generally people come into their career for similar reasons, there are differences in their experiences depending on whether they work in social work, social care or children and young people services.
Main findings from the survey results
• Most respondents (65%) came into social work, social care or children and young people services to make a difference to people’s lives and because it would be a job they would love or enjoy (59%).
• 81% feel valued by those they support for the work they do but were less likely to feel that their work was valued by the public (42%).
• 56% of respondents are satisfied with their current job, while 35% are dissatisfied.
• 65% said they feel able to meet the needs of people they care for/support.
• 85% of respondents expressed a desire to improve their knowledge and skills and 73% acknowledged the availability of training and learning opportunities.
• 47% would recommend their organisation as a great place to work.
• Social care staff reported higher satisfaction rates compared to other groups, with 59% expressing satisfaction.
• Social care and children and young people staff were more likely to mention the pay being too low (41% and 43% respectively, compared to 23% of social work staff).
• Social care staff were least likely to receive sick pay (54%) and children and young people staff were least likely to receive 28 days holiday (68%).
• Social work staff tended to express the most negative views/lowest levels of satisfaction with their current roles and were the most likely to consider leaving in the next 12 months.
• Over two fifths of social work staff (43%) were dissatisfied overall.
• Just over a fifth of respondents (22%) said they were likely to leave their role in the sector in the next 12 months. Almost half said they are likely to leave within the next five years. Their key reasons are being overworked, low pay and poor employment or working conditions in general.
• 43% of those planning to leave have experienced discrimination, bullying or harassment in their role.
Maree Allison, SSSC Chief Executive said: ‘This is the first time we have carried out this survey and the results show that the workforce in Scotland is committed to making a real difference to people’s lives.”
‘I’m reassured to hear that many people feel valued for the work they do and the survey has given us a unique insight into this workforce and their experiences. It’s important now that we learn from the findings so that people working in this sector feel supported, able to develop their skills and to grow in their careers.”
‘However, the results also highlight challenges covering a range of topics, including pay and conditions with half of those on hourly rates telling us they are finding it more difficult to manage financially than this time last year. And there are significant differences in experiences overall depending on whether people work in social work, social care or children and young people services.”
‘We will share the findings to help shape and design the support and services we provide as well as guiding the work of partner organisations and government.
‘Thank you to everyone who gave their time to take part in the research and contributed thoughts and views that have given us an insight into what working in these services in Scotland is like today.’
Read the full report on the SSSC’s website here.
