Workers set to flee group care homes over low pay and stress
NEW YORK: 50,000 group care nursing home staff, close to 20 per cent of the workforce, say they are preparing to leave the sector within a year due to low pay and stress.
And the majority of workers don’t see a long-term future working in care, with almost two-thirds of existing staff flagging an exit within five years, a new report finds.
The study by aged-care technology provider CompliSpace based on a survey of 1000 workers, creates additional pressure on an industry already expected to face future staff shortfalls due to the ageing of the population.
The report says many workers are disillusioned by poor pay, excessive stress and the amount of paperwork they are required to complete, which takes time away from actual care of those they are looking after. But one in three of the 277,000 paid residential aged-care workforce say they want to still be working in the sector in a decade.
CompliSpace chief executive officer David Griffiths said Australia’s nursing home industry faced “an impending crisis of staff turnover”, with 47,000 workers planning to leave within the next 12 months alone, and 180,000 over five years.
“The impending staff exodus from aged care is not surprising when you realise we pay more to those who stack our supermarket shelves than those who care for some of the most vulnerable Australians,” he said. “First-time aged-care workers and experienced mentors are the most likely to call it quits, leaving a nucleus of committed but less experienced workers to lead the industry from the mid- 2020s.”
The sector needed to consider incentives to retain wavering workers and support committed workers to mentor the next generation of carers, he said.
Concern about the ageing population driving demand for aged-care services, and how to ensure there is a workforce available to cater for them, is front of mind for policymakers. By 2057, more than one in five Australians will be over 65 years of age, up from 15 per cent now.
The aged-care royal commission found current nursing home staffing levels are inadequate, concluding that 20 per cent more staff were required just to bring care to an acceptable level; 50 per cent more to reach best practice.
A recent report by the Committee for Economic Development Australia found a looming shortfall of 110,000 direct aged-care workers over the next decade without policy intervention, ballooning to 400,000 by 2050.
The Aged Care Workforce Industry Council was created to drive a sustainable workforce into the future. The pay issue is being considered by the Fair Work Commission, with an application to boost rates by up to 25 per cent.
The report found the reluctance to continue in aged care was most acute among workers at the start of their careers, with almost half of those with less than a year’s experience planning to quit by 2024.