Every day across the UK, over 100,000 temporary care workers walk into homes they’ve never seen before. By lunchtime, they’ll know who takes sugar in their tea and who needs reassurance before bed.
This article was written by Toby Gavin, Director of We Are Care.
In 2024/2025, approximately 118,000 bank or temporary care staff worked on any given day in the independent and local authority sectors, representing 8% of filled posts, according to Skills for Care’s State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce report.
This is slightly down on last years figure of 126,000, but the point remains: these workers are not peripheral to the care system, they are integral to it. However, too often their contribution goes unrecognised and their adaptability is taken for granted.
The reality of non-permanent work
Temporary care workers operate without the security blanket of established relationships or institutional knowledge. They must quickly assess care plans, understand individual preferences, and integrate into existing teams, all while maintaining the same duty of care as permanent staff.
Many temporary care workers also work exceptionally long hours, often 12 to 15-hour shifts simply to meet staffing needs or make each journey financially viable. For those without access to a car, getting to a placement can mean multiple buses, trains, or hours of travel before and after each shift. Their day frequently begins long before they arrive at the care home and ends long after they leave it.
The skills required extend beyond clinical competence. Temporary care workers need exceptional intuition: reading the room, understanding unspoken protocols and building rapport with colleagues who may view them with suspicion or, in our own team’s experience, resentment. Non-permanent staff are sometimes treated as outsiders rather than collaborators, despite working towards identical outcomes.
Why it matters
In Skills for Care’s most recent ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report, the adult social care sector contributed £77.8bn to the economy in 2024/25, with the total number of posts increasing by 2.2% on the previous year. The sector’s vacancy rate returned to 7% in 2024/25, meaning temporary carers are filling critical gaps in provision. Without this flexible workforce, many services would struggle to maintain safe staffing levels.
The sector faces significant pressures. Skills for Care data shows the number of new international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24 to 50,000 in 2024/25. Simultaneously, the number of workers with British nationality declined by 30,000 (a 2.6% decrease). Temporary care workers provide essential capacity during this period of workforce instability.
The integration challenge
The experience of being new is inherently vulnerable. Temporary care workers must demonstrate competence while simultaneously learning new systems. They face practical challenges: locating equipment stores, understanding documentation processes, navigating building layouts. They also face social challenges: proving their credibility, establishing trust, and overcoming prejudices about ‘temporary staff’.
Permanent teams often operate with institutional memory and shared understanding, but temporary carers lack this context. They arrive without knowing which resident prefers tea in a china cup, which colleague appreciates direct communication, or where management stores the incident forms. These details matter in care work, where quality hinges on attention to individual needs and preferences.
Recognition, not sympathy
This is not a plea for sympathy. Temporary care workers are professionals who choose this work, often valuing the flexibility and variety it provides.
But not everyone has that choice. For some, agency or bank work is the only viable route into care due to visa restrictions, limited local opportunities, or personal circumstances. Choosing this work does not make it easy, it shows character and courage.
However, resilience should not be mistaken for indifference to sometimes poor treatment. The ability to cope with difficult circumstances does not justify creating those circumstances.
When permanent staff treat temporary care workers as temporary inconveniences rather than colleagues, everyone suffers. Care quality depends on effective teamwork. Residents benefit when all staff members feel valued and included, regardless of employment status. Integration should be intentional, not accidental.
Practical inclusion means proper inductions, even brief ones. It means sharing essential information rather than expecting temps to intuit it. It means acknowledging their expertise and experience, rather than assuming incompetence. Simple gestures like showing someone where to make coffee, explaining local preferences, answering questions without irritation all make tangible differences.
The bigger picture
The sector will need another 540,000 posts by 2040 if the workforce is to grow in proportion to the number of people aged over 65 in the population, according to Skills for Care projections. Meeting this demand requires every available worker, permanent and non-permanent alike. The distinction between employment types matters less than the shared purpose: providing quality care to people who need it.
And yet, many of these workers still earn less than the Real Living Wage (RLW). In some cases we have seen first hand, some are earning less than National Minimum wage for cash in hand. Considering the physical and emotional demands, the inconsistent hours, and the travel often required to reach unfamiliar workplaces, paying at least the RLW is not just fair, it is ethical and socially responsible.
In closing
Creating inclusive environments for temporary workers requires minimal resource but deliberate effort. It means permanent staff actively welcoming temporary colleagues, managers facilitating proper handovers, and organisations fostering cultures where all workers feel part of the team.
Temporary care workers bring fresh perspectives and diverse experience. They’ve seen different approaches across multiple settings. This knowledge is valuable if organisations choose to access it. Treating them as partners rather than placeholders benefits the entire system.
The resilience of temporary care workers keeps services running. That resilience deserves respect, not exploitation. It deserves recognition that they’re not just filling gaps, they’re providing care, supporting colleagues, and contributing to a sector that depends on their flexibility and professionalism. Whatever the weather, whatever the challenges, they turn up ready to work. That should be applauded.
Image BY ani kolleshi via UnSplash and Shutterstock
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