Workforce challenges will only intensify: PC
Limited funds and an ageing population mean that recruitment and retention will become more difficult.
Current difficulties in attracting aged care staff are only likely to worsen, according to the Productivity Commission.
According to the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), aged care employers only had 1.3 suitable applicants for each personal carer vacancy in 2008.
But in a draft report on the contribution of the not-for-profit sector, the commission said workforce issues would worsen in coming decades.
“As demand for services rise with population ageing, the current workforce shortages are likely to become profound, requiring major adjustment, a problem that goes well beyond the NFP sector and affects all providers,” said the report.
It stated challenges around recruitment and retention were largely due to uncompetitive wages.
The commission suggested that a lack of funding was limiting opportunities for aged care employees.
A survey of the aged care workforce last year found that 28 per cent of direct care workers and 42 per cent of community care workers wanted to work longer hours.
“These findings suggest the problem for some NFPs is not so much a shortage of qualified workers as a shortage of funds to fully employ those that are available,” the report said.
It is expected that the growth of community care services will also put increasing pressures on the aged care workforce.
“Community care services may be able to make greater use of volunteer labour but will also require informal carers to coordinate services,” it said.
