Edinburgh company boss predicts care sector could see 'explosive growth' with up to 100,000 new post-Covid jobs

Care industry workforce specialists Netli is bracing itself for an ‘explosive’ growth in the next year potentially translating into the creation of 100,000 new jobs in the sector.

Post-Covid jobs boom: Stephen Wilson

The Edinburgh firm is confident that post-Covid, social care will be a key sector in supporting the economic recovery of the UK.

Funding bodies such as Scottish Health Care Social Partnerships (HCSPs) who contract services to care providers, could utilise Netli’s suite of bespoke online products. CEO and co-founder Stephen Wilson said the company’s software provides vital workforce data that can ensure the continuous provision of consistent and uninterrupted care in communities across the UK.

Wilson said: “Every person employed through Netli will positively impact the lives of at least three people in need of support.. if we secure the wide scale UK take-up from local authorities and HCSPs that we are looking for, we could see 100,000 jobs being created.”

In addition to consulting with the UK and Holyrood government, Netli will be launching a proposal to all funding bodies across the UK with the aim of securing country-wide support and take-up of its services. Its proposal includes a real-time dashboard and a detailed monthly report that will allow for the identification of current and future workforce planning, spotting staffing gaps and other risks earlier than before, as well as expert tools to improve the recruitment and retention of employees.

The pandemic provided a platform for the care sector to highlight the value and importance of social care, especially the sector’s staff. The Netli CEO believes that this new perspective on the care of society’s vulnerable should lead to two key developments over the coming year: “more funding in social care and better wages for social care staff, which combined will mean a boost for social care job opportunities.”

Moreover, people in other sectors such as retail or hospitality who lost their jobs due to the pandemic may feel compelled to take up new roles in social care. Wilson is now calling for every HCSP and local authority across the UK to work with Netli to support the growth of the care sector and “in doing so, support care providers across the country, as they have supported us in the past year through Covid.”

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