20 Jun 2025
A new Zoetis white paper has claimed the sector has a “pivotal moment of opportunity” to address workforce pressures and ensure it can thrive for decades to come.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Image: © patpitchaya / Adobe Stock
A new report has urged the veterinary sector to seize a “pivotal moment” to address its current workforce and service challenges.
The message was delivered in a white paper published by the pharmaceutical giant Zoetis, after a survey indicated nearly 6 in 10 professionals had considered leaving the sector.
But the document also warned retention problems were not solely linked to mental health, and change was essential to both meet staff expectations and ensure practices are sustainable.
The report added: “This means rethinking everything from working patterns to support systems, ensuring that veterinary practices are able to support and value their staff.”
The report, which the company described as both a wake-up call and a blueprint for action, is based on the findings of more than 1,000 survey responses from vets and practice managers in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
They showed 30.1% of participants had “seriously contemplated” leaving the profession, with a further 28.9% considering it during especially stressful times.
Fewer than 1 in 5 (17.8%) were said to be confident of a long-term future in veterinary medicine, while 3 in 10 (30%) called for greater training of other staff, including veterinary nurses, to help ease the professional burden.
The report also quoted one roundtable discussion participant who said: “I think probably this is the most fragile I’ve ever seen the profession in the 40-odd years of being within it.”
The survey also found 70% of veterinary participants had taken time off work during the previous year due to workforce well-being issues.
That proportion rose to 75% among UK vets, although the proportion considering leaving was lower at 48%.
But an even larger proportion (78%) wanted policy makers to make “systemic changes” to address the retention problem.
The report also warned that viewing retention issues solely from a mental health perspective risked overlooking other critical factors.
Zoetis regional president Stephanie Armstrong said: “Addressing retention in the veterinary field requires looking beyond individual well-being to systemic factors.
“By fostering better work environments and providing support, we can help ensure that veterinarians continue to provide vital services to our communities.”
BVA junior vice-president Rob Williams added in the report: “It’s not a mental health problem, per se. It’s an occupational health problem because the environment is fundamentally not working in the way that it should.”
The document called for an immediate-term focus on changing its professional structures to meet contemporary workforce expectation, a short-term to medium-term emphasis on the development of new service models, and a longer-term emphasis on broadening entry paths to help future-proof the veterinary workforce.
It described those areas as three interconnected “pillars of change” which could benefit the whole sector, adding: “The veterinary profession stands at a pivotal moment, one where thoughtful transformation could create more sustainable and fulfilling career paths for current and future practitioners alike.”
Although the report also highlighted models developed for the RCVS last year, which predicted substantial increases in the number of vets and nurses registered to practice in the UK over the next decade, it said they had not accounted for the changes that would be necessary to accommodate greater levels of part-time and flexible working.
