Social workers are the least likely adult social care staff group to feel valued or that they are making a difference to the people they support, government-commissioned research has found.

As a result of this, and other indicators, such as how safe and autonomous staff feel in their role, social workers have the lowest work-related quality of life of any part of the adult social care workforce in England, according to the survey of 7,233 staff, including 502 social workers.

The research, by Ipsos, Skills for Care and University of Kent, was designed to help the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) understand levels of wellbeing in the adult social care workforce and how this was shaped by working conditions.

Though it was carried out from August to October 2023, the survey results were only released at the end of February 2025.

Measuring workforce wellbeing

The researchers designed a measure, the adult social care outcomes toolkit – workforce (ASCOT-workforce), to capture the impact on quality of life of working in the sector.

This comprised 13 questions: making a difference, relationships with the people cared for, autonomy, time to care, worrying about work, self-care, safety, professional relationships, support in the role, competency, career path, financial security and feeling valued.

The research team calculated a combined score – known as the care work-related quality of life (CWRQoL) – from respondents’ answers, and found that social workers had the lowest average score of all staff groups (20.69), compared with an overall average of 23.30.

Social workers have lowest quality of working life

Social workers’ score was slightly below nurses and nursing associates’ (20.89) and significantly lower than those for all other groups. For example, senior care workers averaged 22.67, occupational therapists 23.17, registered managers 24.72 and personal assistants (PAs) 26.82.

This was driven by social workers’ responses across several domains, with the report revealing that:

• 69% of all staff felt able to make “as much difference as I would like” or “some difference” in their roles, but 41% of social workers felt the same, the lowest of any group.
• Social workers were the most likely to say that their role was “not valued at all” or “not valued as much as I would like by others”, with 72% feeling this way, compared with 41% of all staff.
• Almost two-thirds of all staff (65%) felt they had “as much freedom and independence as I want” or “adequate” freedom, but this fell to a half (51%) for social workers, the lowest of all groups.
• Just under half of all staff (48%) said they had the time they needed or adequate time to do their jobs well, but this rose to over three-quarters (78%) for social workers, also the worst group score.
• Three in ten social workers (30%) said they did not have enough time to do their job well and this was having a negative effect on them, twice the workforce average (15%) and higher than other job roles.
• 54% of all staff said they rarely or sometimes felt unable to look after themselves at work, compared with 64% of social workers, a proportion only exceeded by nurses/nursing associates.
• 14% of all staff – but 28% of social workers – said their relationships with people with care and support needs were not good. Only nurses/nursing associates (31%) scored worse than social workers in this domain.
• Just over half of staff (52%) often or constantly worried about work out of hours, but this was true of 62% of social workers. Two groups had a worse score than social workers on this domain: registered managers (77%) and deputy or other managers, team leaders or
  supervisors (67%).
• 17% of social workers said they did not have all the skills and knowledge they needed, compared with 11% of staff overall.

Experiences of violence, bullying or harassment

Half (49%) of the workforce had experienced or witnessed physical violence from the people they cared for or supported in the previous 12 months. In this domain, social workers’ score (34%) was below average, with nurses and nursing associates (65%) and senior care workers (63%) carrying the most risk.

However, social workers were more likely than average, or any other group, to have experienced or witnessed harassment, bullying or abuse from the people they cared for or supported in the previous 12 months, with 58% reporting this compared with 46% of all staff.

Social workers were also more likely than average to have experienced or witnessed physical violence from family members or friends of people they cared for or supported (20% as opposed to 13%) or from the public (15% versus 9%).

Most social workers ‘often consider leaving employer’

Reflecting these results, most social workers (59%) reported often thinking about leaving their organisation or employer, above the average for the whole workforce (50%).

However, social workers had more positive scores in relation to learning, development and stimulation at work than other groups.

Almost nine in ten (88%) agreed that their organisation offered them challenging work, compared with 55% of all staff, while over half of social workers (54%) said there were career development opportunities within their organisations, compared with 39% of all respondents.

In addition, over two-thirds of social workers (68%), compared with 56% of the whole sample, said they had opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills, and almost half (46%) said they felt supported to develop their potential, compared with 39% of the workforce overall.

Last year, Community Care’s annual jobseeker research found that, of those looking to leave social work, 63% cited stress and 56% cited burnout as reasons.

As well as causing retention issues for organisations, poor emotional health can also affect how social workers practise.

This highlights the importance of social work managers and leaders promoting the wellbeing of their teams and services.

In a new article for the The Social Work Community, social work leader and consultant Clair Graham provides advice for managers on achieving this.

She highlights the skills involved in being a supportive social work leader, initiatives to help staff manage their wellbeing, and the importance of fostering “a culture of emotional intelligence”.

As she concludes: “By prioritising staff wellbeing, organisations can reduce sickness, enhance staff retention, and improve outcomes for the communities that they serve.”

Read the full article on The Social Work Community.

How much support did you have when you returned to social work after becoming a first-time parent?

In three episodes of the Social Work Community Podcast, social workers at Essex County Council discuss the various ways the local authority supports its workforce and promotes their wellbeing.

In this episode, Amy, a team manager in a Care Quality Commission service improvement team in adult services, and Brooke, who works in a family support and protection team in children’s services, share their experiences.

Both first-time mothers highlight that being a parent is no barrier to career progression at the local authority and show how supportive management structures have helped them achieve a work-life balance.

Listen to “Returning to social work after becoming a first-time parent” on Spreaker.

Access the transcript here

The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. You will hear directly from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Our first season was nominated in this year’s British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Social Work Journalism Awards.

So sign up to the Social Work Community to be among the first to catch each episode and to connect with fellow practitioners in a safe space.

Otherwise, check out the Social Work Community Podcast on the following:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Spreaker
• Audible (Amazon)

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.

by Janet Ayoola

Having worked part-time (2.5 days a week) for most of my 14-year career in child protection, I have experienced the numerous benefits this work pattern can offer.

My choice was driven by a desire for a better work-life balance and the need to care for my young family.

A Community Care poll in June 2024 with 588 votes revealed that the majority of practitioners (76%) said part-time work was their ideal working pattern.

However, there is a prevailing perception that part-time working is not conducive to social work. Despite this, I believe that adapting our work patterns to suit our own needs not only benefits us but also the families we support.

I have also found that, with good communication, families’ experiences of working with a part-time practitioner can be quite favourable.

Managing a part-time schedule with families

Being open about my working pattern has made me more relatable, with many families appreciating that I, too, juggle responsibilities outside of work. My transparency has generally been met with positive feedback.

By informing families about my availability, I have been able to prioritise my tasks more effectively, ensuring that I plan ahead and make the most of my working days.

On my days off, cases have been managed through a duty system and clear case recording, which fosters smoother transitions and consistent support for the families. However, I find that, through planning ahead and clear communication, very little work is required in these times.

And while I acknowledge that working part-time may not be financially feasible for many practitioners, I wanted to highlight some unexpected benefits I have discovered.

Protection against burnout

Pictured: Janet Ayoola

Social work is a demanding profession, often leading to high levels of stress and burnout.

Working part-time has afforded me regular respite, which has been crucial in maintaining my mental health and overall wellbeing. On my days off from work, I try to attend the gym and catch up with friends over coffee.

As social workers, we often think about the families we work with, even on days off. That is accentuated by the long hours we work. My reduced hours mean that I regularly practise being fully disconnected from work, from when I log off on Thursday to my return on Tuesday. This allows me to return with renewed energy and focus.

In hindsight, this has not only benefited me personally, but has also ensured I am more present when supporting the families I work with.

The balance of rest and work keeps me motivated, preventing the emotional exhaustion that is all too common in full-time social work. It has kept me in the profession.

Opportunities to volunteer

Having time during the week has allowed me to volunteer in various roles, enabling me to use my social work skills and knowledge in different contexts outside of paid employment.

Volunteering has not only broadened my experience, but also allowed me to contribute to causes that I care about.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, I became a safeguarding trustee for a children’s charity that provides mentors to primary school-aged children in London. As a professional, I have seen young people benefit from similar mentoring schemes.

The experience gave me insight into how valuable my safeguarding expertise is outside of statutory social work.

Knowing I am making a difference both within and outside my formal employment has enhanced my sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Currently, I volunteer as an independent member for safeguarding in the audit and risk committee for a national sight loss charity. Both these roles have exposed me to a variety of people and considerably increased my professional network.

Time to invest in professional development

Part-time work has provided me with the invaluable opportunity to invest in my professional development.

While there should be sufficient time in the working week to access learning for CPD, we know that this is not always possible. With the extra time available, I invest in my professional development by attending a webinar or training that I might otherwise have missed out on.

This continuous learning has kept me abreast with the latest developments in social work practice and policy, making me more efficient in my role.

Last year, I completed a training course to become an independent lead reviewer. While this was funded by my employer, there was no extra time offered to attend the training sessions. I would never have completed the course if I did not have the flexibility of part-time work to catch up on the sessions.

Engaging in professional development activities has kept my enthusiasm for the profession alive, preventing the stagnation that can sometimes accompany long-term employment in a demanding field.

Expanding your career

Another unexpected benefit of part-time work is the time it affords to explore new opportunities.

Over the years, I have used my additional time to network, attend career events, and even take on independent social work in different sectors. My volunteering experience has also led to new work opportunities.

As part of my independent work, I now deliver safeguarding training and consultancy services to charities and voluntary organisations.

Whether you are considering a move into a different area of social work, exploring roles in related fields, or even contemplating a complete career change, part-time work provides the space to explore these options before fully committing to a career change.

A holistic approach to work-life balance

While the traditional view within social work may favour full-time roles, it’s essential to recognise that part-time work can offer a viable and beneficial alternative.

By taking a holistic approach to work-life balance, we can ensure that our personal and professional lives complement rather than compete with each other.

In conclusion, part-time social work should not be viewed as a compromise but rather as a strategic choice that can enhance our professional effectiveness and personal satisfaction.

By embracing flexible working patterns, we can create a more supportive and effective profession that ultimately benefits the families and communities we serve.

Staff wellbeing and getting it right for practitioners are at the heart of Walsall’s journey. Principal social worker Hannah Thompson says: “We have a ‘workforce and wellbeing strategy’ in place because we absolutely want to recognise that we need to look after and care for all of our staff who are out there working tirelessly for children, young people and families in Walsall.

Hannah Thompson, PSW at Walsall.

“To develop this approach, we constantly ask our staff how we are doing and what we need to do support them more, provide development opportunities for them and continue to respond to feedback and develop as an organisation.”

Feedback from staff has led to Walsall introducing a number of key changes. As part of the Walsall ‘Right 4 Children’ programme the council has:

• Introduced a nine-day fortnight as a standard offer for all frontline practitioners so they can visit families at times that suit them and know they will get this time back.
• Offered clinical supervision across the workforce, delivered by the child psychology service.
• Changed structures to introduce more experienced senior practitioner and consultant social worker roles to support all practitioners and keep practice wisdom in practice.
• Focused on a ‘grow our own’ approach so practitioners feel able to take their careers where they want. This includes a clear career pathway for all social workers, including senior roles.
• Offered retention payments of 10-14% salary to frontline social workers in duty and assessment and family safeguarding teams to underline that pay matters.
• Consistently tracked workloads to keep these low with the aim of setting a maximum of 15 children for experienced social workers – on the understanding that workloads matter and practitioners want to be able to do a good job.
• Enabled every staff member to develop a specialism, as part of the families first model.

Practitioners feel that the work-life balance in Walsall reflects this, given the realities of the sector.

Sarah, a social worker at Walsall, explains: “The nine-day fortnight has been a great addition to the flexibility of my work. It recognises that sometimes social workers need to change their hours to meet the needs of the families we are supporting.

“It is nice to have a day every two weeks to catch up on life admin! We are able to work in the office and at home as a hybrid of the role. It gives social workers the independence and autonomy to manage our own schedule. We do have flexible working when we have appointments or commitments so we can make up our hours too. We are also flexible in our approaches, to creatively support families.”

Walsall is committed to asking our staff how it can work in the best way possible with children and families, and to do the things that matter. Last year, the council achieved a satisfaction score of 8.1 from the annual Local Government Association health check, based on feedback from staff.

PSW Hannah Thompson says she feels there is more to do: “We are pleased with the positive feedback from our staff, but we know that we have to keep pushing to improve. Working with children and families is a privilege but it is also hard at times.

“We want to keep learning and growing all the time, and for Walsall to be a place where you know your voice as practitioner will be heard.”

Photo: Walsall Council

Researchers have proposed a definition of safer and effective staffing levels within social work to inform legislation on the issue in Northern Ireland.

The definition, based on practitioner feedback, is believed to be the first of its kind, and covers both staff sufficiency and practitioners having access to “regular supportive, reflective supervision”, “compassionate line management” and a “supportive team”.

The research team carried out 10 focus groups with social work teams from all five health and social care (HSC) trusts, interviewed over 20 practitioners and analysed time diaries that they provided.

It also analysed workloads across children’s services and older people’s teams in Northern Ireland’s HSC trusts, which identified both caseload sizes and vacancy levels.

The research was commissioned by the Office of Social Services (OSS) within Northern Ireland’s Department of Health (DoH) and is designed to inform the development of safe and effective staffing legislation for the region’s health and social care services.

It was carried out by a team of academics from Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast led by Paula McFadden, professor in social work at Ulster University.

Analysis of social work workloads

The team collected staffing data from 249 teams across the five HSC trusts, dated to February or March 2023.

In family intervention teams – long-term children’s services teams – the study found that the ratio of social workers to allocated cases was 1:18, while when unallocated cases were included, this increased to 1:20.

While the report did not make recommendations around caseload size, the 2022 Setting the Bar report, commissioned by Social Work Scotland, recommended a limit of 15 in children’s services.

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our My Brilliant Colleague series to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Impact of high vacancy levels

The situation was driven in part by high vacancy levels, with 22.4% of posts in family intervention teams being unfilled at the time.

Were these posts filled, the case ratios would have fallen from 1:14 for allocated cases and 1:16, once unallocated cases were added.

Children’s social workers interviewed for the research reported that both the complexity and urgency of cases, and administrative burdens, had increased over time.

Working conditions were better, the research found, when there was camaraderie and positive relationships within the team, with a supportive manager who promoted shared risk-taking, and there was regular formal and informal supervision.

Meanwhile, in older people’s community teams, the research found there was one practitioner for every 48 allocated cases, while the ratio was 1:55 when unallocated cases were included.

Again, this was partly driven by vacancies, with 12.6% of posts in the teams being unfilled. Filling these would have resulted in ratios of 1:42 for allocated cases and 1:49 when all cases were taken into account.

Social workers’ views on their caseloads

However, social workers who took part in the research suggested that the ideal caseload in an older people’s community team was 35.

“There was wide agreement that a ‘safe’ and ‘fair’ volume of cases for each social worker should consider time, travel and case complexity, acknowledging that complexity can fluctuate over time, alongside the level of liaison with other professionals and services required for each case,” the report added.

Most social workers who took part in the research perceived their caseloads to be high and, in many cases, unmanageable, while researchers also found that practitioners’ health and wellbeing were being “increasingly impacted by workload pressures”.

Like children’s services colleagues, older people’s social workers also highlighted the importance of their line manager, a supportive team and regular supervision in promoting safe staffing.

The report was published against the backdrop of significant concerns about social work staffing in Northern Ireland that has led to several rounds of strike action by the main union for the profession, NIPSA.

Chief social worker ‘recognises challenges facing staff’

In a foreword to the research report, Northern Ireland’s chief social worker, Aine Morrison, who works within the DoH, said she recognised “the significant challenges social work services NI face currently and the pressures this puts on staff”.

“There is a complex interplay of factors affecting current staffing levels including population factors causing increased demand for services, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, funding shortfalls and the resultant impact on staff wellbeing,” she added.

“While defining what safe staffing means is complex and brings many challenges, I believe that it is essential that we set some standards for what we believe to be reasonable workloads.”

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Northern Ireland, which contributed to the study, welcomed the proposed definition of safer and effective staffing.

‘We need more social workers’

“We need more social workers, that is beyond doubt,” said BASW NI professional officer Noeleen Higgins.

“However, the safer and effective staffing report is helpful in highlighting that achieving safe staffing is not only about having enough staff. It correctly focuses on the importance of supporting and developing staff to have the right knowledge, experience and skills.”

The report will be followed by a further study that will make recommendations for caseload sizes and models and tools for calculating these.

The chief social worker added that both reports would inform DoH guidance on safe staffing levels in social work.

Consultation on safer staffing

The DoH is currently consulting on the content of its legislation on safe and effective staffing, for which it has proposed:

• Introducing guiding principles for health and social care staffing in Northern Ireland that the DoH and health and social care trusts must have regard to.
• Placing the DoH and the health and social care trusts under a duty to carry out evidence-based workforce planning.
• Requiring health and social care providers to take all reasonable steps to ensure suitably qualified staff in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients and the provision of safe and high-quality care.
• Placing the DoH and health and social care trusts under a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure there are sufficient numbers of specific staff groups, including social workers.

The consultation closes on 14 October 2024.

Most social workers feel workplace friendships help them stay longer with their employers, a Community Care poll has found.

The finding supports recent research with 10 practitioners by social worker Anna Bedford, which found that workplace friendships helped participants “survive” the profession and kept them safe. 

“The research showed that friendships at work can inject fun during long days and strengthen loyalty towards organisations,” she wrote.

Some of the participants, whose careers spanned five to 30 years, commended their social work friends for being their inspiration or encouraging them to put themselves up for promotions.

In response to our poll, which garnered 554 votes, two-thirds of respondents said friendships with colleagues contributed “very much” (36%) or “quite a lot” (30%) to them remaining with their current employer. 

‘Couldn’t do the job without them’

Social workers commenting on Anna’s article also admitted their colleagues are the ones helping them “get through the day”.

“No one understands the pressure of an Ofsted visit or [putting new] policy changes into practice as much as the person sat next to you,” said one practitioner.

“I’m currently debating moving on and my only factor in staying is my team and my co-manager. Couldn’t do the job without them.”

“In the absence of any, let alone reflective, supervision, the only validation, empathy, understanding and emotional support we [receive] is from our colleagues,” added Dan. 

“I can’t say I’m particularly close friends with the colleagues I value but I know I couldn’t get through any work day without them.”

Tell us how your colleagues helped you through a tough day at work in the comments below. 

Social workers are doing more with less, seeing increased need and weighed down by administrative work, a survey of just over 7,000 practitioners has found.

Practitioners also feel less valued and supported by their employers and are more likely to quit their roles over the next 12 months than was the case a year ago, while significant minorities have experienced bullying or racism, found the latest Local Government Association ‘health check’, carried out from February to April this year.

The check assesses social workers’ views on their organisations’ performance against The standards for employers of social workers in England, which set voluntary expectations of how organisations support practitioners to work safely and effectively.

This year’s survey, whose respondents were employed by over 160 organisations, mainly councils, found declining satisfaction in relation to seven of the eight standards, with the other remaining steady.

Increasing levels of need amid admin burden

Some of the most concerning findings related to practitioners’ overall experiences of their workplaces.

The average score for whether they had not seen an increase in the severity of need of those referred to them was just 45, indicating that practitioners were managing more complex caseloads.

There were also low scores for whether practitioners were not required to do more with less (51) and whether their role did not involve administrative duties that had no or limited impact on outcomes for the people they supported (44).

Against this backdrop, there was a drop of five points (from 74 to 69) in relation to whether practitioners felt positive and able to cope in their roles most of the time, compared with the last survey, in 2022-23.

Practitioners feel less valued by employers

This was accompanied by a fall in the average score for whether social workers felt that their senior leadership team valued and understood the work that they did (from 68 to 65) and in whether they would recommend their employer to a friend (from 75 to 73).

As well as concerns about work pressures, many social workers were dissatisfied with their pay and conditions, with an average score of 61 in relation to whether they were rewarded fairly for their job, and a fall from 71 to 68 in respect of satisfaction with their employment package.

There was also a decline – from 75 to 72 – in the average score for whether social workers did not intend to leave their employer over the next 12 months.

Experiences of bullying and racism

The survey also asked social workers about their experiences of bullying and racism within the previous 12 months.

A quarter (26%) said they had experienced bullying from people who use social care, relatives or members of the public, while 5% said they had experienced this from a colleague. One in 12 (8%) had experienced racism from people who use social care, relatives or members of the public, while 3% had done from colleagues.

Concerns about employer consultation with social workers

In relation to the employer standards themselves, the biggest year on year decline in average score was for standard 2 on effective workforce planning systems (82 down to 74).

Within this standard, social workers raised particular concerns about how well employers consulted with them. There was an average score of 57 for whether employee consultation informed and influenced change, and of 64 for whether employers made sure employees understood and were supported through change. Both of those were new questions.

There were also year-on-year declines in satisfaction across all the other questions within this standard. For example, the average score fell from 74 to 69 on whether employers understood the barriers and challenges getting in the way of social workers doing their best work and promoted solutions to address these.

Satisfaction lowest in relation to CPD

As in previous health checks, satisfaction was lowest in relation to standard 6, on continuing professional development, for which the average score fell from 74 to 72.

Similarly to the 2022-23 survey, the biggest area of concern for social workers in this standard was whether social workers had the time, resources, opportunities and support to do their CPD. The average score for this measure was 62, down from 65 in 2022-23.

There was also a drop in the extent to which social workers thought their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) helped them develop their skills and professional competence (70, down from 76).

The sharpest fall concerned whether social workers took regular action to update their CPD, for which the average score was 91 in 2022-23 but just 78 in 2024.

Social workers ‘should not have to tolerate conditions’

In response to the results, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services said leaders “[recognised] the issues raised in the survey responses and remain committed to creating the conditions where good social work with children and families can flourish”.

“Social workers should not have to tolerate conditions that would not be tolerated in other professions,” said Nicola Curley.

“Bullying, abuse and discrimination is completely unacceptable and directors and local authority chief executives have a responsibility to protect our staff from this.

“It is important for us as employers to listen to this valuable feedback from social workers, to understand their experiences of the workplace and the support they need to be able to do their jobs well and, crucially, to create change where it is needed.”

Curley added: “Social workers are at the heart of systems that protect children from harm and support families to overcome challenges and stay together safely. Their work can be challenging and sometimes high risk. They work under heightened media scrutiny, yet the life changing work they do is rarely recognised. Without enough skilled social workers, who are supported and equipped with the tools to do their jobs well, in safe and appropriate working environments, we as directors of children’s services cannot ensure all children in our local areas thrive.”

Latest survey to raise concerns about social work

The survey is the latest to suggest that social workers are working in an increasingly challenging environment that is taking its toll on their wellbeing, satisfaction at work and readiness to stay in their roles.

A Social Workers Union survey earlier this year found 53% felt their mental health had got worse recently due to their work, with a further one in ten saying it had “collapsed”.

When asked for the reasons, several mentioned caseloads and workloads more generally, including the administrative tasks they had to complete and the pressure to complete work to tight timescales, as well as staffing shortages.

Concerns about workloads and staffing levels were also prominent in responses to the British Association of Social Workers’ (BASW) latest annual survey, carried out from December 2023 to January 2024. Two-thirds of respondents had noticed an increase in the turnover of experienced staff in their organisations in the previous 12 months, said BASW.

DfE plans to increase adherence to employer standards

The latest health check also comes with the Department for Education (DfE) seeking to improve adherence to the employer standards as part of its children’s social care reform strategy, Stable Homes, Built on Love.

The department has appointed a consortium comprising Research in Practice, Essex County Council and King’s College London to produce and test tools and resources to support employers in implementing the standards.

This is allied to work that the partnership is carrying out with the DfE-appointed national workload action group (NWAG) to develop resources to tackle “unnecessary” drivers of excess workloads among social workers.

*As well as 7,068 social workers, the LGA received responses to the survey from about 8,000 social care workers and occupational therapists, but has not published the results from these groups.

by Anna Bedford

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
I was sat at my desk, feeling like a failure.

I was about six months into being qualified and a child I thought I had been keeping safe had just run away.

I was tired, emotional and overwhelmed – and the one thing that got me through was friendship.

That day, it was the friends I had made at work who let me cry and helped me with practical tasks.

These friendships have supported me in building the resilience I’ve needed to carry on working in social work for the subsequent 15 years.

We talk about relational practice in the sector, but little is known about the role of workplace friends in social work.

To find out more about how they can impact on wellbeing and professional practice, I interviewed 10 social workers, whose careers spanned from five to over 30 years, as part of my dissertation.

‘I wouldn’t be here without them’

The research showed that friendships at work can inject fun during long days and strengthen loyalty towards organisations.

Participants provided examples of supportive friendships that had helped them “survive” the profession and had even kept them safe.

“I wouldn’t be here without them,” said one social worker. “There’s absolutely no way [I would be]…it’s really, really bloody hard.”

Another children’s practitioner expressed disbelief at how social workers without core workplace friendships survived the hardships of the profession.

“It’s very helpful to have friendships at work – a variety of different people to bring experiences into the pot. I honestly don’t know how people [cope without that].”

Colleagues ‘get’ the work more than personal friends

Photo: Chanelle Malambo/peopleimages.com/AdobeStock

Many participants said that friends outside of social work were supportive, but they just “didn’t get it”.

Their experiences echoed some of my own.

There have been so many times where, at the end of the day, I would be ringing or texting my friends to talk about work, and often these were the same people I had spent all day in the office with.

This also came out in my research:

“We’re pep-talking each other in the office on a morning and then we’re debriefing on the way out,” said a respondent.

“Then when we get home, we’re on TikTok sending each other funny memes.”

The nature of the work can be intense – you can be out on visits all day with one of your colleagues or working late to secure placements for children. This forces you to spend quite a lot more time with your co-workers than in other professions.

I once had to travel for four hours in a car to a secure unit with another social worker and by the end of it she knew more about me than some of the friends I’d had for years.

This is partly because social work creates circumstances where you are required to show vulnerability and it is at those times that friendships flourish. One of the participants phrased it best: “You’re sharing and you’re open and you’re vulnerable right from the start.”

Workplace friendships leading to career development

The interviews also put a spotlight on how workplace friendships can help develop careers.

For some, their colleagues had been the ones who encouraged them to put themselves up for promotions.

For others, friends who were managers inspired dreams of reaching positions of similar stature.

One of the participants told me she was persuaded into managing a team by one of her friends: “He said to me, ‘You can influence more people as a manager’.”

Another participant said it was their friends’ “faith” that gave them the final push towards reaching higher.

“My friends encouraged me to apply for jobs…they told me that it was time to become a manager and that I could do it, they had got faith in me.”

Longest-lasting friendships were formed as new social workers

Photo by AdobeStock/ Jacob Lund

When looking back, participants also found that the deepest and longest-lasting friendships were formed in the first few years after qualifying – when they are needed the most.

This period is often packed with life lessons, mistakes and emotional ups and downs. It is when social workers learn to lean on each other for support and colleagues become friends.

Respondents particularly expressed worry for those who qualified in the pandemic while working from home, and how this may have restricted opportunities to develop friendships with colleagues.

“There’s a lot of people at work who I know and I really like and I probably would consider them to be friends if I was sat next to them every day. But, because I’m at home, that’s not developed,” said one such social worker.

Covid impact on workplace relationships

This lack of professional support and relationships due to limited contact during Covid may have contributed to practitioners leaving the sector not long after joining it.

In 2022, almost a quarter of practitioners who left the profession in England had been registered for less than a year.

When you start in a new team, you are thrust together with people you don’t know, from all different walks of life.

A social worker, commenting on why her friendships from when she first qualified have lasted for over 10 years, called the post-qualifying period “an intense time”.

“We were under so much pressure that we actually leaned on each other quite a lot”.

Create more social opportunities in the workplace

And so it is my belief that workplace friendships should not go under the radar.

They can create an avenue to let off steam, a place to laugh about the unlaughable and an environment where anxiety and unpredictability can be contained.

While senior leaders and managers cannot force friendships to develop, they should strive to create more social opportunities to help cultivate workplace relationships. This could include eradicating hot desking or reducing working from home so that practitioners are in the office more often and can always sit with their teams.

Various participants spoke of the benefits of having team lunches or events like office ‘bake offs’ and of being given the freedom to go and grab a coffee with colleagues.

This was also a personally enjoyable research project to complete. I often witnessed social workers smiling and laughing as they recounted past stories from different decades. It was great to have the opportunity to explore a positive side to social work.

We often dwell on negatives in this sector but, instead, maybe we all need to spend time reflecting on how friendships have shaped our careers?

Most social workers say their mental health has got worse recently due to their work, with one in ten saying it has “collapsed”, a survey has found.

At the same time, over four in ten have said they are now considering leaving the profession because of their experiences over the past 18 months.

That was among the findings of a poll of 716 Social Workers Union (SWU) members, commissioned by The Independent and carried out in January and February of this year.

The research also found that most practitioners felt their caseloads were not appropriate or manageable and a majority also believed they were not doing the job to the standard they would like.

Deteriorating mental health

Just over half (52.7%) of respondents* said their mental health had deteriorated recently due to work, while a further 9.6% said it had “collapsed”. In addition, 86.2% of respondents said they had experienced significant stress as a result of work.

When asked for the reasons, several mentioned caseloads and workloads more generally, including the administrative tasks they had to complete and the pressure to complete work to tight timescales, as well as staffing shortages.

This was leading some to work several hours of unpaid overtime to complete their work and others to feel they were letting people down by not practising in the way they wanted to.

This was reflected in answers to other survey questions, with 60% saying they were not at all (21%) or partially unable (39%) to do the job to the standard they would like, while 58% said their caseload was either not at all or only partially manageable and appropriate.

Most practitioners expected this situation to get worse over the coming year, with 86.3% saying they anticipated a massive (51.5%) or slight (34.9%) increase in the number of referrals to social services and the number of assessments social workers would have to carry out.

Some also referenced pressure, a lack of understanding and, in a number of cases, bullying from management as factors behind the stress they were experiencing.

Significant minority considering quitting profession

Based on their experiences as a social worker over the past 18 months, 43.9% of respondents said they were now considering leaving social work, with 5.5% saying they already were mulling quitting.

The survey builds on other recent evidence of the pressures on the profession:

• Social worker morale and practitioners’ likelihood to recommend the profession to friends and family both fell from 2020-23, according to Social Work England-commissioned research.
• Half of practitioners disagreed that they were able to manage their workloads, while two-thirds had seen an increase in the number of experienced social workers quitting their jobs in the previous 12 months, found a British Association of Social Workers survey.

The changes over time in morale reported by Social Work England coincide with the Covid-19 emergency and its aftermath. Separate research with practitioners carried out last year found that social workers were working more overtime, experiencing greater levels of burnout and reporting lower work-related quality of life than at the start of the pandemic.

The survey of Social Workers Union members also uncovered child safeguarding concerns. Four in ten said they had raised concerns about a child where they believed appropriate action was not taken as a result over the past 18 months. This was in the context of half of the respondents working in children’s services.

 Cost-of-living concerns

The survey also revealed significant concerns among practitioners about costs of living faced by those they supported.

Over half (55.7%) said many of the people they worked with lived in cold and damp homes, while over four in ten said they had seen children (41.2%) or vulnerable people (45.9%) living in conditions with excessive mould.

In addition, a quarter (24.3%) disabled people or those with a health condition whom they worked with were unable to afford to run their medical equipment.

Social work ‘on brink of a collective breakdown’

Responding to the results, the union’s general secretary, John McGowan, said: “The data highlights a profession on the brink of a collective breakdown. Working conditions are not improving, the mental health of social workers is suffering and the resources and support for them to do their jobs properly are missing.

“Social workers go above and beyond to help those at most risk in the country and are highlighting safeguarding concerns on a regular basis. However, the consistent reports from respondents to the survey are that the resources to help those most in need are just not there.”

McGowan said it was up to the government to step in to provide councils with sufficient resources to “reverse the decline in public services and ensure the most vulnerable get the support they need”.

*In all cases, the findings have been reported as a percentage of those who responded to the particular question, not of the sample as a whole.