UK-based healthcare recruitment receives boost from newly introduced tools by major job boards, in response to the government's prohibition on foreign care workers.
In a significant move, the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, announced on 11 May 2025 that overseas recruitment routes for care workers will be closed. This decision has left over 150,000 vacancies in the social care sector needing to be filled domestically. In response, Niche Jobs, a leading job board, has proactively launched new initiatives aimed at supporting UK-based care and healthcare recruiters.
Niche Jobs' initiatives include targeted UK-based recruitment campaigns, partnerships with local training and apprenticeship providers, utilization of niche job boards and job platforms optimized for the UK care sector, and leveraging digital tools and technologies to facilitate more efficient screening and engagement with UK-based applicants.
The targeted recruitment campaigns aim to attract qualified local candidates for care roles, emphasizing pathways for career development within the UK healthcare system. Niche Jobs is also partnering with local training and apprenticeship providers to help upskill UK residents and prepare them for roles in care and healthcare recruitment.
To enhance visibility of domestic job opportunities and improve candidate matching, Niche Jobs is optimizing its job boards and platforms for the UK care sector. Additionally, they are implementing AI-powered job marketing to extend reach and increase application volumes.
The new features, which are being rolled out across all four of Niche Jobs' UK and Irish job boards, also include UK-only application filters to reduce wasted time on ineligible candidates. These filters aim to streamline the hiring process and reduce reliance on overseas labor.
Other features include frictionless ATS integration to reduce candidate drop-off and speed up hiring, as well as candidate storytelling campaigns to inspire new entrants into the sector. The package is affordable for various employers, ensuring accessibility for businesses of all sizes.
The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has warned about the NHS's "dangerous over-reliance" on international clinicians, emphasizing the importance of these initiatives in maintaining a stable workforce within the UK's care system.
For more information, visit Niche Jobs' website. Matt Farrah, Co-founder of Niche Jobs, is the contact for press enquiries ([email protected], LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattfarrah/). The full implementation of the new features is expected by Autumn 2025.
In the 2022/23 academic year, half of new NMC registrants were internationally educated. One in five social care workers in England are non-UK nationals. These initiatives aim to invest more deeply in homegrown talent and recruitment practices, ensuring a sustainable and skilled workforce within the UK's care sector.
- Niche Jobs is focusing on e-recruitment, employing digital tools and technologies to facilitate more efficient screening and engagement with UK-based applicants for care roles.
- To address the shortage of care workers, Niche Jobs is partnering with science-oriented training and apprenticeship providers to upskill UK residents for roles in the healthcare sector, emphasizing health-and-wellness and medical-conditions.
- In an effort to maintain a stable workforce within the UK's care system, Niche Jobs is aligning its initiatives with finance-oriented businesses, offering affordable packages and AI-powered job marketing for businesses of all sizes.
