The experiences and perspectives of agency social workers in England: Findings from interviews with those working in adult services

One of the solutions to the shortages of social workers in England has been to employ

workers as their contract of employment is with a employment agency rather than the social work

context of government efforts to reduce the expenditure of public sector employers on agency staff.

three diverse local authority settings; spanning those social workers whose careers in social work

and specialist were considering possible retirement or career moves. The aim of the interviews was to

the interviews are presented, with illustrations of ‘push and pull’ factors around agency working. The

the power of social work employers to foster more generally, such as ways to minimise ‘office politics’

and to provide greater variety of work.