Why don’t caregivers apply to your jobs?

So what do caregiver really think about your home care agency?

Augusta has been interviewing caregivers throughout the caregiver shortage so we could get a better understanding of what the caregiver’s perspective is during these times.

Here are the top 10 reasons why caregivers don’t apply to your agency. Today we will be covering reason #1.

Caregivers Feel Disposable.

“Agencies and owners make you feel bad if you ask for time off. If you want vacation on Christmas, you have to negotiate. Most agencies charge time and a half on a holiday so they put that pressure on caregivers to show up for shifts those days. If you do not comply with their requests they will take you off of your clients shift and will reduce your hours from 30-40hrs a week to 10 hours tops.” - Caregiver

Caregiver’s stating they feel disposable is a common reservation amongst those in the industry.

They have worked with sub-par agency owners that have demonstrated to their employees that if a caregiver does not comply with their requests they will slowly be pushed to the side and have their hours reduced to the bare minimum.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 such as applying to a job opening or committing to full time hours.

You need to understand that a lot of caregivers (outside of work) speak to other caregivers for support and insights.

𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 from running a business and worrying about the bottom line to being in the caregivers shoes.

Most caregivers are caring for a loved one at home on top of working for your agency.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 because you could not work on a weekend or Christmas because you have a family member to take care of? 𝐈𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭…but operators subsidize their working hours when they have to tend to their family members that gave them the experience to be a professional caregiver.

As an operator / agency owner, you also need to understand you are competing against agencies that have most likely have done this to hundreds, if not thousands of caregivers in your service area.

𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫. You need to remind them that they are appreciated and respected throughout through actions and not only headlines in a job post or scripted interview conversations.

Thank you for watching. Stay tuned for our next reason why caregivers are not applying to your jobs.

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