More men come into social service workforce

Male employment in the Scottish social care workforce has
doubled in the past nine years, and employment in the sector has
been growing faster than the average in Scotland, according to a
social care labour market summary published last week,
writes Maggie Wood.

The summary is the first of a series of annual reports from the
Scottish Executive’s National Workforce Group which was
established last year to provide cohesion and strategic direction
for the development of the social services workforce.

Peter Peacock, minister for education and young people who chairs
the group said that current workforce planning to address
recruitment and retention in the social care labour market will be
“enhanced” by the information in the report.

In addition the 21st Century Social Work Review, recently announced
in the wake of the Borders abuse inquiry will, he said be“
informed” by the report.

The report also identifies that whilst labour demand has been
increasing faster than supply, qualification levels have increased.
There has also been an increase in the proportion of employees with
full time contracts.