Understanding core competencies of older adult care workers from the perspectives of the employer: automated content analysis of job advertisements.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine employer-defined core competencies for older adult care workers in China.

METHODS

From June to July 2025, we scraped 3,068 job advertisements for older adult care positions across 15 Chinese cities from three popular Chinese online recruitment sites. Based on the Iceberg Competency Model, we designed an analytic framework, which was then analyzed via automated content analysis (DivoMiner platform).

RESULTS

The employer-stated competency requirements for older adult care workers were ordered hierarchically. At the skill level, the most significant competencies were activities of daily living support (personal hygiene: 70.24%; household assistance: 62.71%), supplemented by growing expectations for health-related care (health monitoring: 41.85%; rehabilitation care: 21.42%) and psychological support (emotional companionship: 26.21%). Regarding comprehensive abilities, soft skills, communication (41.23%), patience (31.91%), and compassion (29.11%) were highly valued. The positive predictors of high salaries for older adult care workers were urban economic level [B = 0.770, OR = 2.160, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.890-2.468, P < 0.001], compassion (B = 0.409, OR = 1.505, 95% CI: 1.230-1.842, P < 0.001), communication skills (B = 0.389, OR = 1.476, 95% CI: 1.215-1.791, P < 0.001), and mealtime assistance skills (B = 0.316, OR = 1.372, 95% CI: 1.099-1.712, P = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

The employer-expressed competency demands for older adult care workers have gradually expanded from daily living support to a multi-functional role covering daily living, health care, and psychological care. Soft skills and humanistic care literacy are key to evaluating the comprehensive competence of older adult care workers and vital for securing high salaries. Our findings provide empirical evidence for older adult care education curriculum design, talent evaluation systems, and policymaking.