Kalpa Kharicha and Carl Purcell
HSCWRU have carried out a programme of research on international recruitment of care workers to adult social care since February 2022 when care workers were made eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa. This recruitment option ended in July 2025. During this time, international care workers joining the workforce made the largest impact on vacancy reduction in the sector.
Our evaluation of the International Recruitment Fund (IRF) 2024-25 is the third and most recent phase of work. The IRF is an annual fund distributed to regions and sub-regions across England between 2022-26. The IRF 2024-25 aimed to support international care workers who had lost their jobs due to unethical employment practices and exploitation, to be re-employed in the sector. The evaluation draws on interviews with all regional partnerships, different care provider types and international workers (total n=70). We will share key findings on: (1) partnership implementation and challenges; (2) the success of efforts to find new employment for international workers; and (3) ongoing exploitation and wider systemic issues relating to the employment of international care workers.
Kalpa Kharicha, kalpa.kharicha@kcl.ac.uk and Carl Purcell, carl.purcell@kcl.ac.uk
