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One in five social care professionals are actively looking for a new job and more than half keep an eye on the jobs sector in case something better comes up, according to a Community Care survey.

The survey of 3,000 Community Care readers revealed that lack of challenge, poor promotion pros-pects and low pay were causing people to look for new jobs.

One in four respondents expected to be working for a new employer within two years. Nearly two-thirds said salary levels in social care were fairly poor or very poor. Their average salary rose by 10 per cent since 1998 to £25,770. The average full-time salary is £26,440.

The research paints a picture of volatility in the social care jobs market. Workers are staying with a single employer for one year less, on average, than in 1998. Better pay might have prevented one in five employees from leaving their last job, but over a quarter said nothing would have made them stay.

Mike Leadbetter, who becomes president of the Association of Directors of Social Services this month, said social workers no longer considered a job for life with one local authority. "There are real issues about pain in the public sector but particularly in the front-line jobs," he said.

Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Work, said he wasn't surprised by the survey's findings. "Social workers are generally demoralised, disillusioned and disempowered," he said. "The positive thing is that there is some acknowledgement of this by the government. We will continue to lobby for acknowledgement in financial terms."

The Department of Health is to launch a major three-year recruitment campaign for social workers at the national social services conference in Harrogate this month, but has faced criticism as there is no mention of better salaries or improved conditions.

The Community Care survey revealed people were much less dedicated to employers than three years ago. Workers who expected to move jobs soon, while continuing to work for the same employer, said they expected to remain with that employer for nearly four years, compared with thirteen years in 1998.

Provision of high quality care was seen as the most important factor affecting job satisfaction. Adequate resources and a manageable workload were also rated highly.

Nearly half the respondents were either social workers or senior social workers. One in five were departmental heads, and one in ten managers or directors. Half worked with children or families. Over two thirds worked in a local authority setting.

Three quarters of respondents who worked in health and one-third of all respondents said they were part of a multi-disciplinarily team.