Almost One-third Of Senior Living Staff Turnover Stems From Low Pay, Report Finds

Senior living caregivers are leaving their jobs due to low pay, burnout and lack of career advancement, according to a new survey.

The new survey from digital workforce company Kare included responses from 3,112 licensed caregivers, collected in late 2024 and centered on workforce trends shaping senior living staffing. 

Nearly a third of respondents, 29%, said they were planning to leave existing licensed caregiving positions for other industries due to low pay, while 16% of licensed caregivers said burnout was pushing them to leave the industry. Another 10% said they were going back to school and leaving their position as a result. Other respondents reported “high levels of stress,” along with “not feeling valued” or found “little career advancement” opportunities within their current roles.

“The path forward requires operators to invest in workplace transformation—not just recruitment. The organizations that listen, adapt, and lead with empathy will be the ones best positioned to thrive in this evolving environment,” Kare CEO Charles Turner told Senior Housing News.

But, “retention is within reach,” said Kare Senior Vice President of HERO and Employee Experience Katie Rhone, if operators “listen to their caregivers and act accordingly.”

That’s because 86% of caregivers surveyed in the report said they wanted to remain in the industry driven by emotional connections and a sense of career purpose.

“However, they need flexible schedules, safe environments, recognition, and career development opportunities to remain committed,” Rhone told SHN via emailed statement.

Just under three-quarters of respondents, 74%, said they would accept a $1.50 per hour pay cut for a “better-run company and culture.” In recent years, operators have pushed to improve their models to be more accommodating of staff needs, while increasing pay and improving benefit packages.

“Caregivers want a better culture, but they want it on their terms,” Turner said. “But it does show how deeply caregivers value their emotional and environmental experience at work, so it is a retention strategy.”

For caregivers to shun a $1.50 per hour raise shows “just how broken some environments have become” within certain senior living companies, Rhone said. Some solutions include conducting regular culture assessments, empowering staff to help define what “good culture” means to them and having steps in place to ensure a clean workplace.

But that doesn’t mean operators should forego wage increases. Turner urged providers to reevaluate their wage and salary structures, despite operators facing wage pressure in the last five years following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It means taking a strategic approach to total compensation, which includes wage, benefits, scheduling flexibility, and career growth opportunities. If you’re losing people to higher-paying, less stressful roles, your comp plan is broken,” Turner told SHN.

Senior living operators are evolving their staffing models, taking cues from other industries and some are expanding career advancement opportunities for their employees to improve retention.

Thirty-one percent of caregivers cited strong relationships with residents, and 26% cited fulfillment and purpose as their primary reasons for remaining in their current role.

One key reason caregivers stayed in their roles was flexibility, from scheduling options to employers creating supportive environments to improve workforce culture. Almost all respondents, 98%, said having flexible scheduling options would keep them on staff. The report notes that creating a supportive work environment – which represented the third-highest factor in retention, according to respondents – starts with more emotional and psychological support rather than team-building exercises.

Younger caregivers and certified nursing assistants (CNA) valued career development opportunities as a way to improve retention, the report found. This comes as burnout remains a leading factor among registered nurses (RN) between 25 and 34-years-old in leaving the senior care workforce.

“Engage caregivers in dialogue about what ‘support’ and ‘good culture’ mean to them specifically,” Rhone said.

Through the responses, caregivers also gave the industry a net promoter score (NPS) of 38, something described by Turner as “strong.” The score reflects an impassioned workforce that cares about their work, but is well below the 77 NPS reported by Starbucks employees and 74 by AirBnB, according to the report.

“The NPS of 38 is encouraging, showing a workforce still proud of its mission. However, looming burnout, financial pressures, and the lure of adjacent sectors like acute care or education pose a real threat,” Rhone said.

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