The UK health and social care sector is facing its worst staffing crisis in decades. Over 165,000 positions remain unfilled across England, with many areas seeing staff turnover rates above 30% annually. What started as a recruitment problem has now changed how care services are bought, delivered, and measured.

The workforce shortage isn’t a temporary issue that will simply go away. It’s driving permanent changes in how services work, what technology providers use, and how commissioners buy care services. These changes are reshaping the entire tender process and what providers need to do to win contracts – transformations that our workforce-focused tender writing and strategic consultancy services are specifically designed to address through systematic integration of recruitment and retention strategies into competitive bid responses.

Local authorities and NHS trusts are changing their procurement strategies to deal with staffing realities, while care providers are finding new ways to maintain service quality despite having fewer staff available.

Understanding the Problem

Current workforce data shows how serious the situation has become. Skills for Care says the adult social care workforce needs to grow by 50% over the next ten years to meet demand, but recruitment continues to fall well short of what’s needed.

Different regions face different challenges. London has care worker vacancy rates approaching 12%, while rural areas struggle to recruit because of poor transport links and lower populations that make services harder to run profitably.

Pay differences make the problem worse. Care workers earn an average of £9.50 per hour compared to £10.80 in retail and £11.20 in hospitality. This makes it hard to attract and keep good staff when other jobs pay better.

Brexit continues to affect recruitment. The loss of EU workers, who made up 7% of the social care workforce, has put more pressure on an already stretched job market, particularly in London and the South East.

How Commissioners Are Changing Their Approach

Local authorities are completely changing how they buy care services to address workforce problems. Traditional procurement that focused mainly on getting the lowest price is evolving to recognise that sustainable staffing is crucial.

Workforce sustainability has become a key scoring area: Tender documents now include detailed questions about recruitment strategies, retention programmes, and staff development plans. These sections carry significant marks alongside traditional quality and price measures.

Framework agreements now track workforce stability: Many councils track provider staff turnover rates, training completion rates, and recruitment success as key performance measures. Contract extensions and direct awards are now linked to workforce performance.

Payment terms are being adjusted to support recruitment: Some commissioners are agreeing to higher hourly rates specifically to help providers offer competitive wages, recognising that sustainable services need properly paid staff.

Joint commissioning is growing: Local authorities are working together more on procurement exercises, creating larger contract values that can support better recruitment and retention programmes.

How Providers Are Adapting

Care providers are using creative solutions to address staffing challenges whilst maintaining service quality and meeting regulations. These changes are reshaping how services are delivered across the sector.

Technology use has accelerated rapidly: Digital care planning systems, mobile working platforms, and remote monitoring technologies are helping providers deliver efficient services with smaller teams whilst maintaining quality standards.

Flexible working has become standard: Providers are offering part-time roles, job sharing, flexible hours, and annual contracts to attract workers who might not consider traditional full-time positions. This particularly targets parents returning to work and semi-retired professionals.

Career development programmes are expanding: Leading providers are investing heavily in apprenticeship schemes, qualification support, and clear promotion pathways to stand out from competitors and build long-term workforce stability.

Recruitment is diversifying: Providers are actively recruiting from non-traditional backgrounds, including retail, hospitality, and administration, providing comprehensive training programmes to develop care-specific skills.

Technology as a Solution

Digital solutions are becoming essential tools for making the most of available staff whilst improving service quality and reducing administrative work that contributes to job dissatisfaction.

• Care management systems now include route optimisation, helping providers reduce travel time between visits and increase direct care time, improving both efficiency and job satisfaction for care workers.
• Mobile apps are reducing paperwork, cutting documentation time from 30 minutes daily to under 10 minutes, allowing care workers to focus on direct service delivery rather than administrative tasks.
• Remote monitoring technologies enable preventive care, reducing emergency callouts and allowing more planned, efficient service delivery that makes better use of limited staffing resources.
• Training platforms provide flexible professional development that can be completed around work schedules, addressing the challenge of maintaining staff skills whilst managing operational pressures.

Impact on Winning Tenders

The workforce crisis is changing what makes providers successful in competitive tendering. Traditional strengths around quality systems and competitive pricing remain important but are no longer enough on their own.

Workforce planning documentation has become critical: Providers must show comprehensive recruitment strategies, realistic staffing projections, and evidence of successful retention programmes to score well in technical evaluations.

Local recruitment ability is increasingly valued: Commissioners favour providers who can show strong local connections, established recruitment pipelines, and understanding of regional job market conditions.

Financial sustainability linked to workforce costs gets more scrutiny: Unrealistically low pricing that appears to compromise staff wages or training investment is viewed with suspicion by commissioners worried about service continuity.

Partnership approaches are gaining favour: Providers who can show collaborative relationships with training providers, recruitment agencies, and other care organisations are seen as more resilient and sustainable.

For organisations struggling to articulate their workforce strategies effectively in tender responses, book a workforce strategy consultation to develop approaches that demonstrate recruitment sustainability and competitive differentiation in increasingly demanding evaluation processes.

What This Means for the Future

The workforce shortage is driving permanent changes in social care that will continue even when recruitment challenges eventually improve. Providers who adapt successfully to these new realities will be positioned for long-term success, whilst those who continue with traditional models may find themselves increasingly uncompetitive.

Technology integration will become mandatory rather than optional as commissioners expect providers to show efficient use of available workforce through digital solutions and innovative service delivery models.

Workforce development will become a core business function rather than just an administrative task, with successful providers needing to run effective recruitment, training, and retention programmes as essential parts of their service offering.

Quality measures will increasingly focus on workforce stability, with commissioners recognising that consistent, well-trained, and well-supported staff deliver better outcomes for service users.

Preparing for Change

The social care sector is evolving quickly in response to workforce pressures, creating both challenges and opportunities for providers willing to embrace change and innovation.

Understanding these workforce-driven changes is crucial for any provider serious about winning contracts in today’s market. Commissioners are looking for partners who can demonstrate not just technical capability, but genuine solutions to the staffing challenges that affect service sustainability.

The providers who succeed will be those who can show they’ve thought seriously about recruitment, retention, and efficient service delivery, and can articulate these solutions clearly in their tender responses.

To support providers navigating these workforce-driven procurement changes, we’ve developed comprehensive workforce strategy resources including recruitment planning templates and retention programme frameworks that help organisations demonstrate sustainability in competitive tender evaluations.

These workforce challenges reflect the broader transformation facing healthcare providers who are committed to maintaining quality care whilst adapting to unprecedented staffing constraints. Our understanding of these sector-wide pressures informs our approach to helping organisations develop workforce strategies that support both operational excellence and competitive success in challenging procurement environments.

Ready to navigate the changing landscape of social care commissioning? Our Expert bid writing team helps providers develop workforce strategies and tender responses that win contracts in today’s competitive environment.