Renee Jenner manages a team of home aged care workers and is struggling to find employees.

Kate Alit is a former aged care employee who often had to ask staff to work a double shift, due to ongoing shortages.

Both women empathised with the thousands of aged care workers in Queensland and Western Australia who walked off the job on Tuesday, May 10 to call for better pay and more staff in aged care facilities.

According to AAP, the strike impacted more than 120 facilities caring for almost 10,000 aged care residents in the two states.

Renee entered the industry seven years ago because she enjoys helping people.

Renee manages a team of aged care workers but finds it difficult to attract people to the profession, and keep them.

She said it's unfortunate that across the country, aged care workers are underpaid, overworked and therefore there's a critical shortage.

Renee is calling on the government to implement changes to increase salaries, and therefore attract more workers to the industry.

Renee said it's the most vulnerable members of the community who are missing out on receiving adequate care.

"All these elderly people who we look after now were hardworking taxpayers who worked all their lives for us," she said.

"Then they get to the end of their lives and they've got no quality of life due to (lack of) funding."

Kate Alit changed employers in 2022, and left the aged care industry after working in an administrative role for seven years in the Port Macquarie-Hastings.

While Kate worked at aged care centres which provided fantastic support, they weren't immune to staff shortages.

"The pay rate is nothing compared to what they should be getting, considering the work that they're doing," she said.

"Recruiting people is difficult because they can get more (salary) packing supermarket shelves."

Kate said being an aged care worker is emotionally and physically draining.

"I can't think of a day that I didn't have to go and ask someone to work a double shift," she said.

"It's heartbreaking.

"It used to make me feel sick to my stomach asking someone who's just worked a 7.5 hour shift, and worked their guts out, to then have to stay."

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