Rethinking Recruitment in Aged Care:
A Retention-Focused Approach

Australia’s aged care sector faces a worsening workforce shortage (CEDA, 2023), impacting not only the quality of care delivered, but the ability for providers to meet the growing demand for services. 

With high turnover rates, chronic shortages, and increasing demand on services, aged care providers are under pressure to balance the need for new staff with a desire to retain their existing talent. Given the continued need for recruitment to fill vacancies it is time to move from traditional metrics like vacancy-filling speed (velocity) to processes that emphasise retention, or what is called “retention-focused recruitment”.
 

Recent studies have concluded that long-term workforce stability is best achieved when recruitment practices are designed with retention in mind (Cleland et al., 2025), with such studies emphasising the importance of onboarding, embedded support structures, matching with preferred clinical areas and career development in attracting long-term talent (Foster et al., 2025).​

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Moving From Traditional Hiring to Retention-Focused Recruitment

Retention-focused recruitment reframes hiring as the foundation of long-term workforce stability. According to The People Lab at Harvard Kennedy School (2022), evidence-based hiring practices, such as structured interviews and inclusive messaging, improve both retention and diversity outcomes. The shift involves a fundamental rethinking of recruitment strategy:

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​This reframing is particularly relevant in aged care, where workforce stability directly impacts resident outcomes and organisational compliance.

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Understanding the workforce challenge in aged care

The aged care workforce is diverse, with Registered Nurses (RNs), Enrolled Nurses (ENs), Personal Care Workers (PCWs) and many others making important contributions. Each group faces distinct pressures, but common challenges include:

• Emotional fatigue and burnout, with 30-50% of workers reporting high levels of exhaustion (Damarell, 2024).

• Perceptions of limited career progression, particularly for PCWs and support staff.

• Perceptions that the aged care workforce are often paid less than their counterparts in comparable industries (although there has been a recent shift in comparative salaries).

• Up to a 37.6% turnover in residential care and 41.9% in home care (Sutton et al., 2022).

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These issues are compounded by the physical demands of care work and the regulatory complexity of the sector. Recruitment strategies that fail to account for these realities risk perpetuating turnover and undermining care quality.

With all of this context, what can providers do to adopt retention-focussed-recruitment techniques?​

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Strategy 1: Training your team to hire more effectively

Staff trained in professional recruitment techniques will make better hiring decisions and improve long-term retention outcomes. Structured behavioural interviewing and unconscious bias training can significantly improve hiring quality.

Implementation considerations:

• Train the recruitment team in behavioural interviewing techniques.

• Ensure that the recruitment team understands unconscious bias and how to ensure it does not play a role in recruitment decision making.

• Involve frontline staff in the interview process to assess team fit, in addition to clinical skills.

• Highlight organisational culture in recruitment materials.

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Strategy 2: Hire for cultural fit, not just credentials

Values-based hiring has emerged as a key predictor of retention. Candidates who align with an organisation’s mission and values are more likely to remain engaged and committed.

Implementation considerations:

• Use behavioural interviews to assess alignment with values such as empathy, respect, and teamwork.

• Involve frontline staff in the interview process to assess team fit.

• Highlight organisational culture in recruitment materials.

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Strategy 3: Provide realistic job previews

Unrealistic expectations are a common driver of early attrition. Realistic job previews help candidates understand the demands of aged care work before accepting a role.

Implementation considerations:

• Be transparent about all aspects of the role during recruitment, early clarity will ensure alignment between the company and new hires when they join.

• Clearly outline shift patterns, resident needs, and compliance responsibilities in job ads.

• If you have a virtual tour of your facility, include a link in your job ads to provide clarity to candidates of the environment they are stepping into.

• Include current staff testimonials in your recruitment campaigns.

• Include skills assessment in your recruitment process, where specific skills are going to be required. If an RN will need to work extensively with residents with dementia, look to test their competency through the hiring process to deal with such cases. 

• Regional - If finding accommodation in your town is difficult, share this and any ways in which you are able to assist a new hire. 

• Online training - Before joining, candidates can complete elearning or online training to begin to understand the work environment and feel a connection with the company.

• International - Connect new hires with a buddy in their facility to meet with virtually before joining (e.g. while awaiting visa approval), to begin growing comfortable with the team environment. 

 

Strategy 4: Invest in structured onboarding and mentorship

The first 90 days are critical. Structured onboarding and mentorship programs can significantly improve retention outcomes.
 

Implementation considerations:

• Develop a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan tailored to each role.

• Assign mentors or “buddy” carers to new staff.

• Include training on emotional resilience and regulatory compliance for new staff

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Strategy 5: Promote realistic career pathways from day one

Career stagnation is a major contributor to attrition. When available, recruitment messaging should include clear pathways for advancement.
 

Implementation considerations:

• Highlight internal promotion opportunities during recruitment.

• Offer subsidised training for PCWs to become ENs or RNs.

• Partner with TAFEs and universities to create talent pipelines.

 

For example, a regional aged care provider may look to partner with a local TAFE to offer Certificate III in Individual Support with guaranteed employment (with pathways into a Certificate IV and a Diploma), boosting retention and community engagement.

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Strategy 6: Plan workforce needs proactively

Retention-focused recruitment requires strategic workforce planning. Predictive analytics and community engagement can help build sustainable talent pipelines.

Implementation considerations:

• Maintain a database of past applicants and passive candidates.

• Create partnerships by engaging with training institutes, recruitment agents and other talent sources.

• Track your workforce data to be able to anticipate turnover and skill gaps.

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Conclusion: Practical Steps for Aged Care Leaders

To embed retention-focused recruitment into your organisation:

1. Train your team to hire more effectively.

2. Audit your current recruitment process for gaps in cultural fit, onboarding, and career development.

3. Develop a recruitment framework informed by evidence-based practices.

4. Begin realistic job previews and mentorship programs.

5. Partner with educational institutions and recruitment agents to build long-term talent pipelines.

6. Track retention metrics and adjust strategies accordingly.

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Recruitment is not just about filling roles—it’s about building a workforce that stays.

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Written by WRK4CE, published on 3 March 2026
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Reference list:

• CEDA, “Aged-Care Funding Must Be Overhauled To Stop Beds Sitting Empty: CEDA” (Media Release: 4 October 2023), www.ceda.com.au/newsandresources/mediareleases/health-ageing/aged-care-funding-must-be-overhauled-to-stop-beds-sitting-empty-ceda

• Cleland, J., Milte, R., Khanna, D., George, S., Brebner, C., Campbell, N., et al., “Recruitment, retention and turnover of allied health professionals in rural and remote areas: A quantitative scoping review” (2025) 25, Rural and Remote Health. https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/9494

• Damarell, R, “Combatting staff burnout in residential aged care” (2024, Flinders University), https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/research-notes-palliative-care/2024/09/24/combatting-staff-burnout-in-residential-aged-care/

• Foster, A.M., Munro, S., Golder, J. et al., “Why they come, why they stay and why they leave: a survey to understand the drivers of recruitment, retention, and attrition of allied health clinicians in an Australian metropolitan health network” (2025) 25, BMC Health Services Research, 767, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-025-12922-3

• Harvard Kennedy School – The People Lab, "Evidence-Based Strategies for Hiring a Strong and Diverse Workforce", (2022), https://peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/evidence-based-strategies-for-hiring-a-strong-and-diverse-workforce.pdf

• Sutton, N., Ma, N., Yang, J.S., Lewis, R., Brown, D., Woods, M., McEwen, C., Parker, D. (2022) Australia’s Aged Care Sector: Full-Year Report (2021–22). UTS Ageing Research Collaborative, The University of Technology Sydney, https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/163697/2/UARC_Aged%20Care%20Sector%20Full%20Year%20Report%202021-22.pdf