A recruitment crisis for charities?

For most charities, lack of funding is the main factor preventing them from doing more to help more people. For a growing minority funding is not the main issue, it’s a lack of skilled staff, particularly in specialist roles such as youth workers, care staff etc.

Many have waiting lists for their services or are having to turn people away; a problem exacerbated by the rapidly rising demand for many charity services.

Some are turning to volunteering, trying to find ever more creative volunteering roles and recruitment methods. Others are looking to technology to streamline service delivery so more people can be helped with the same number of staff. However, many services and roles simply don’t lend themselves to virtual or volunteer-led delivery and, if anything, volunteering is in decline in the UK.

A February 2024 report by Pro Bono Economics offers some insight into this looming crisis in staffing for charities. Vacancy rates in the sector are rising fast with 57% of vacancies now defined as “hard to fill” and a sharp rise in the number vacancies that remain unfilled due to a lack of candidates with the right skills and qualifications. The third sector now reports bigger problems with skills shortages than the private and public sectors for the first time in decades.

The report suggests that, particularly during a cost of living crisis, a widening differential in pay and rewards between private and third sectors is attracting more people into equivalent private sector roles. This is compounded by a 25% fall in spending on training in the third sector. Only 52% of all charities have a dedicated training budget (86% of larger charities), with 93% of charities saying that cost is a barrier to accessing leadership training.

It seems clear, therefore, that the sector can no longer rely on values and vocation to attract skilled staff and that more attention needs to be paid to more tangible benefits such as remuneration, terms and conditions, non-pay benefits and investment in training and development (something specialist staff particularly value).

Even for relatively small charities, it will be worth thinking about how they can “grow their own” specialist staff through investment in training/apprentice type roles. Many of our smaller clients are doing this through partnerships with universities, college and other care providers (including social services and the NHS). Taking on and investing in people who are early in their career or changing career, so that they can train and qualify on the job can be really effective not only in recruiting staff but in long term retention.

There are no easy solutions, but it is clear that some creative thinking is needed to reverse this trend and ensure the sector continues to meet increasingly acute and complex beneficiary needs.

You can read more about the support we offer for strategic planning or contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk.