"Employers need to offer more part-time roles to combat recruitment issues"

Local authorities in Scotland should offer more part-time roles, according to a new report.

The report by the Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) and the Social Workers Union (SWU) shows that the number of social workers working flexibly varies widely across different local authorities.

Report authors say that flexible working can help maintain a happier, healthier workforce and that flexible working opportunities can stop people from leaving a job or sector entirely. It has also been shown to assist with reducing the gender pay gap, by enabling women to remain in and re-enter the workforce and support people with caring responsibilities to thrive and excel in the workplace. Part-time roles are also often more valued by older workers.

As a result, the report argues that flexible working arrangements should be seen as an important employment tool to support employee wellbeing and aid staff retention and recruitment.

The social work profession in Scotland is currently facing a number of challenges around recruitment and retention, with one fifth (19%) of the workforce aged 55 or over, while four in five (82%) are female. Recent research suggests one quarter (25%) of social workers leave the profession within 6 years of qualifying.

The number of part-time social workers in Scotland has also remained stagnant over the last decade and the number of social workers working flexibly varying hugely between employers.

While, 55% of the social work employers asked were offering flexible working in job adverts, SASW and SWU says there is also a long way to go before every social work employer is proactively engaging potential employees in the opportunities of flexible work.

“With recruitment of social workers still proving challenging for employers, now is the time for concerted action,” General Secretary of SWU, John McGowan, said. “We need to see social work employers offering more roles on part-time or flexible hours contracts.”

“Flexible working provides clear opportunities to address social work staffing shortages; it will attract and retain present workers who need a flexible working environment. This can only improve well-being and work-life balance which is much needed in our challenging profession.”

“Social work is an immensely rewarding profession, but we know it can bring a high level of stress if the supports for social workers are not there,” National Director of SASW, Alison Bavidge, said. “Flexible working arrangements can benefit our communities and our workers and could be a key element in improving both recruitment and retention for social work."