Return to Work programmes
Return to Work programmes are a range of government initiatives designed to help people who are economically inactive, unemployed, retired early, caring for family members, disabled, or living with health conditions, move back into employment. While these programmes are not specific to adult social care, they provide an important recruitment pipeline for a sector facing ongoing workforce shortages.
Relevance to Adult Social Care
Adult social care is often well placed to benefit from return-to-work initiatives because many roles:
- Offer flexible working patterns
- Value transferable life and caring skills
- Provide entry routes through training and apprenticeships
- Can accommodate people returning to employment after a career break
Government support includes programmes aimed at:
- Older workers aged 50+
- People with health conditions or disabilities
- Carers returning to employment
- People who have left the workforce and want to retrain or change careers
Key initiatives supporting return to work
Returnerships
- Designed to help older workers retrain and return to employment
- Brings together apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs)
- Focuses on flexible learning and recognising existing experience
Support for older workers
- Government-backed initiatives encourage employers to recruit, retain and retrain people aged over 50
- Includes resources on flexible working, retraining and the
Mid-life MOT
- Connect to Work and Pathways to Work
- Provides personalised support for people whose health conditions or disabilities are barriers to employment
- Helps individuals return to or remain in work
Key benefits
...for Adult Social Care providers
- Access to experienced workers with transferable skills
- Increased workforce diversity
- Recruitment opportunities from groups often underrepresented in employment
- Improved workforce supply to meet growing demand for care services
...benefits for individuals
- Access to retraining and skills development
- Support transitioning back into employment
- Opportunities to enter meaningful careers in care and support
- Flexible employment options that can fit around personal circumstances
