Early years job vacancies up by 146 per cent on pre-pandemic levels
Katy Morton
Friday, February 16, 2024
Job vacancies for early years practitioners have risen by 146 per cent since before the Covid-19 pandemic, reveals new data.
The Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC) Labour Market Tracker finds that in January, active job vacancies for early years practitioners were up 146.2 per cent on pre-pandemic levels (February 2020), and 5.5 per cent higher than last January.
Similarly, active job postings for early education and childcare assistants were up by 30.2 per cent last month compared to February 2020.
There was an increase in active job postings for primary teachers also, but not to the same extent, with the number of vacancies up by 10.4 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.
'It will be virtually impossible for settings to recruit staff to meet demand in time for April'.
The Early Years Alliance’s chief executive Neil Leitch said that with less than two months until the start of the expanded offer, ‘it’s clear that it will be virtually impossible for settings to recruit enough staff to meet demand in time for the April roll out.’
He added, ‘It’s absolutely critical that the Government recognises just how dire the situation has become and put in place meaningful action as soon as possible.’
'The DfE's recruitment campaign is not a solution to what is a retention crisis.'
The Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) argued that the findings ‘make clear why the Government must use the Spring Budget to increase support to the sector ahead of the roll out of the expanded entitlement.’ It said that the DfE’s new recruitment campaign is ‘not a solution to what is ultimately a retention crisis’, highlighting the low salaries of practitioners within the sector.
Ahead of the publication of REC’s data, early years practitioner, Hannah Yates, launched a survey calling for a pay scale, similar to schools, to be introduced to the sector, and wages increased by paying funding directly to providers rather than via local authorities that take a cut.
'The Government must develop a coherent workforce plan'.
Kate Shoesmith, REC deputy chief executive, said, ‘The past few years have shown that advertising for staff and finding them are two different things. There is little hope of filling such a high level of vacancies any time soon given the serious labour shortages in the UK, a problem which creates a vicious cycle.
‘The Government must develop a coherent workforce plan for the UK if it is serious about lessening the risk that young people’s life chances are impaired by ongoing worker and skills shortages in these vital roles around providing care or early education for them. For example, last year the Government announced a large-scale rollout of childcare provision to take place through 2024 and 2025 but that’s proving difficult without increased staffing levels. This is why a long-term workforce plan which joins the dots between different policies around employment and economic growth is so important.
‘We urge the Government to think much more long term about workforce needs across all sectors and to develop a plan to increase childcare and the primary education workforce in partnership with childcare providers and labour market experts such as recruiters. The Government could also make it easier to access childcare provision by removing bureaucracy such as quickening up access to childcare providers and lessening the frequency of proving eligibility for both the 30-hours entitlement and the Tax-Free Childcare scheme. And expanding access to childcare support to those in training and education to remove barriers to employment. The Government can even go as far as granting a business rates exemption to all early years providers to boost the availability of childcare.’
National Day Nurseries Association’s (NDNA) director of policy and communications, Jonathan Broadbery said, ‘A fully funded workforce strategy is needed to ensure we can address both the number of qualified people coming into our sector but also how we can retain the amazing people who are already working with our youngest children.
‘Having enough people working in the early years sector is a vital part of this country’s economic infrastructure. People cannot work in other sectors if there are not sufficient, affordable and flexible places for children of working parents.’
Helen Hayes MP, Labour’s shadow minister for children and early years, 'Not enough staff means not enough places, means parents missing out on work choices and children missing out on life chances. Delivering the high quality modern childcare system our children deserve can't be done on the back of an envelope.'
June O'Sullivan, chief executive of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), said, ‘If there's a steep shortage of staff there will inevitably be a shortage of places and this is bad news for children, parents and the economy - especially as the UK has now fallen into recession.'
