The Care Friends app encourages your employees to handpick friends, family or acquaintances from their network who they think will do a great job working alongside them.

For some of those referrals, it will be their very first role in social care sector. Others will already be experienced as care or support workers.

In order to meet the increasing demand for care workers, we need to grow the social care workforce by bringing in as many of those with the right values, who have never worked in the sector before, as we can. That is where the New To Care Bonus on the app comes in.

By offering an extra bonus of points when someone new to our sector is hired, we are rewarding the referrer for growing our workforce by one person. A small, but vitally important step in the right direction. We are also making it a tiny bit less likely that local employers will need to entice away your staff to fill their own vacancies.

Only one third of all new starters across our sector each year can claim it is their first paid care job. We must urgently increase the number of those taking that first step to join us. As an employer you can play your part by giving a generous Care Friends New To Care points bonus and celebrate when your staff successfully search for fresh talent.

Whilst it can be tempting to have a new starter that ‘knows the ropes’, prior paid care experience can bring with it bad habits and may indicate a job hopper. Attitude beats experience every time. Help us meet the demand for quality care for the current and future vulnerable in society and promote the New To Care bonus with your staff.

If you have any questions about the new to care bonus or anything else please get in touch by clicking on the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen.

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