Difficulty attracting experienced social workers has led local UK authorities to look abroad to recruit, with 450 social workers coming to the UK last year from countries including Zimbabwe, Romania, Portugal, Australia and India. The government is also looking at ways of improving access for people who have mental health problems or learning difficulties in order to help them get into work. Official statistics reportedly showed that for 2016; the council’s workforce had 115 children’s social workers, recruited around 40 that year, a third of its children’s social work posts were filled with agency staff. “Done properly, there are so many new skills and different practice approaches [that can be added to workforces],” Lennon says. In addition to experience, linguistic skills and cultural fit with certain community profiles was also noted as a benefit of overseas hires.
Difficulty attracting experienced social workers has led local UK authorities to look abroad to recruit, with 450 social workers coming to the UK last year from countries including Zimbabwe, Romania, Portugal, Australia and India. The government is also looking at ways of improving access for people who have mental health problems or learning difficulties in order to help them get into work. Official statistics reportedly showed that for 2016; the council’s workforce had 115 children’s social workers, recruited around 40 that year, a third of its children’s social work posts were filled with agency staff. In addition to experience, linguistic skills and cultural fit with certain community profiles was also noted as a benefit of overseas hires.