Social workers consider leaving their profession: survey

Administrative burden and the workload are two reasons why nearly 16 per cent of social workers in Quebec want to leave their jobs within two years, according to a CROP survey published on Monday.  

The survey was carried out on behalf of the Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et des thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec (OTSTCFQ).

According to the OTSTCFQ, close to 2,400 social workers consider it “probable” or “very likely” that they will leave their profession within two years.

39 per cent claimed that tasks and the administrative burden make them unhappy at work, while 19 per cent claimed the workload was too high.

The results prove that there is “deep distress among these professionals which the Quebec government must address immediately,” argued Pierre-Paul Malenfant OTSTCFQ president.

“This trend worries us greatly, because in the end, if TS break down and leave the profession, it is the population who will pay the price. Not only could the quality and availability of services be compromised, but the pressure on the shoulders of the remaining HCWs will be exacerbated,” he said in a press release.

According to the OTSTCFQ, “a single form can take up to three hours of work with a user”, which can harm a social workers’ ability to “spend more time in the field in direct contact with people in need.”

Survey respondents also cited a lack of resources (15 per cent) and insufficient recognition (14 per cent) when asked about their sources of unhappiness at work.

Malenfant claimed that with Santé Québec, the new agency which will be able to coordinate health network operations which “represents an opportunity to review the conditions of practice and the methods of evaluation of performance to adapt them to the aims and reality of social services.”

The results of the survey were published to mark the beginning of ‘Social Workers Week’, which ends on Saturday.

The survey was conducted from Jan. 23 to Feb. 19.

16,155 members of the OTSTCFQ were invited to respond to the questionnaire and 5,134 workers responded.

The maximum margin of error, calculated using a 95 per cent confidence level, is 1.13 per cent.

-This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews.