Despite the Fair Work Commission’s 15% wage rise for direct care workers in July, 30% of workers in residential care are still looking to leave within the next three years with 49% planning to leave within five years, according to the fourth annual Ideagen Aged Care Workforce Report released today.
The 39-page ‘Reality check: Workers’ views on the impossibilities of aged care’ report – which surveyed 707 mainly managers, carers and other clinical staff between July-August – found that almost one-third of all aged care workers are contemplating leaving the sector within the next three years, with stress cited as the main factor (81%) followed by excessive overtime/expectations (73%), too much paperwork (68%), and remuneration (49%).
Interestingly, this was an improvement on last year’s survey where 50% of workers said they intended to leave the industry within the next three years – suggesting the 15% wage rise for direct care workers in July this year has made some difference to turnover rates.
However, the research also highlights that many teams have seen a significant exodus of experience.
Over 32% of respondents said either the entire management team had been replaced or over half of the management team had left in the previous 12 months.
“The reality is – and this has been consistent for the last four years – is that people are being stressed out of the industry and that senior leaders are leaving or planning to leave the sector at a time when we need substantially more of people with their skills and qualifications in the sector,” Ideagen (formerly Complispace) Senior Vice President David Griffiths (pictured) told The Weekly SOURCE.
53.8% of aged care providers said it is either ‘difficult to achieve’ or ‘moderately challenging’ to have a 24/7 RN on site and on duty at their facility. A further 12% said it was ‘impossible to achieve’.
You can download the full report here.