Challenging times for early career social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study

Abstract The social work profession’s future lies largely in the hands of early career professionals (those working two years or less post-qualification). Their intentions to remain in the profession and their wellbeing affect their performance and system functioning. While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed social work practice, its impact on early career social workers needs specific exploration. Repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted during six phases of the pandemic across the UK. We compared quantitative and qualitative findings by analyzing data from 205 early career social workers compared to 3,391 with longer experience. Wellbeing and work-related quality of life scores fluctuated. Compared to experienced social workers (those working more than two years), early career social workers had lower wellbeing but significantly higher job satisfaction in Phase 2 (Dec–Jan 2020/1). Four themes emerged from analysis of qualitative data from the early career group: unanticipated changes in service demands; uncertainties of policies/practices; feelings of limited support amid increasing pressures, and greater case complexity. Unexpected working conditions and increasing service demands without wider team support appeared to particularly affect those recently qualified. Further research is warranted on whether there are lasting impacts of the pandemic on this cohort of social workers, both negative and positive, to inform support safe staffing measures and pandemic preparedness.