The Talent Is There – So Why Aren’t We Reaching It?

There is no shortage of conversation about the challenges facing young people in today’s labour market. Headlines increasingly highlight rising youth unemployment, concerns about work readiness, and a generation struggling to find its footing.

But in social care, we need to step back from the noise and look at our own position more critically.

Over half of people joining social care are already coming from within the sector. At the same time, only a small proportion of the workforce is under the age of 25. Taken together, this points to a structural issue: we are not replenishing the workforce with younger talent at the rate we need.

This is not simply a short-term recruitment challenge. It is a long-term sustainability risk.

An untapped talent pool

And yet, when we look beyond the sector, a very different picture emerges. There are hundreds of thousands of young people actively seeking direction, opportunity, and meaningful work – many of whom are not currently engaged in education, employment, or training. Youth unemployment remains persistently high, and in many cases, young people are finding it increasingly difficult to access their first step into the workforce.

On one hand, social care needs new talent, fresh perspectives, and a future workforce. On the other, there is a generation actively looking for opportunities to begin their careers.

So why are these two not connecting?

A visibility and strategy gap

The answer, in many cases, lies in visibility and intent.

Relatively few organisations have a clearly defined approach to engaging young people. Without that strategic focus, engagement becomes inconsistent and often reactive. Careers in social care are not always presented early enough, clearly enough, or compellingly enough for young people to recognise them as a viable option.

Careers are rarely chosen in isolation. They are shaped by exposure, awareness, and influence over time – through schools, families, communities, and employer engagement. If social care is not present in those spaces, it simply does not enter the conversation.

Reframing the question

This is where the challenge needs to be reframed.

Rather than asking why young people are not choosing social care, we should be asking how effectively we are positioning it as a career of choice.

Because without visibility, there is no pipeline. And without a pipeline, the workforce challenge will only intensify over time.

But visibility alone is not the whole story. Even where awareness exists, there are still barriers that prevent young people from engaging with the sector fully.

In Part Two of our Insights series, we explore the key perceptions, expectations, and market challenges shaping how young people view careers in social care.