- Staff shortages leading to rise in workplace stress
- One in four settings actively recruiting for a total of 14,700 vacancies
Widespread recruitment and retention problems in nurseries are leading to a rise in workplace stress, according to a new report.
Three-quarters of nurseries that said they experienced issues with recruitment, in Ceeda Research’s About EY Workforce Survey 2019, reported a more stressful working environment (77 per cent).
The findings are based on research with 563 nurseries and pre-schools on the About Early Years panel between July and October 2019. Setting owners and managers gave detailed insight into their workforce, spanning 8,603 employees.
Recruitment
Recruitment shows no signs of improving, despite year-on-year growth of 4 per cent in the number of Level 3 qualifications awarded. There has also been a decline in settings taking on apprentices, with 2,195 vacancies – up from 1,600 in 2018.
Staff vacancies
More than one in four settings (29 per cent) were actively recruiting for a total of 14,700 vacancies. Most vacancies were for Level 3 staff (see table below).
One in five settings had a ‘hard to fill’ vacancy (21 per cent), compared with 8 per cent for all employers nationally.
Regions that are hotspots for recruitment difficulties – where settings are finding it hard to fill at least one post – are London, where 92 per cent of settings have this problem; the West Midlands (90 per cent); and the South East (83 per cent).
Impact on families
The struggle to fill vacancies is impacting the number of places settings can offer, leading to longer waiting lists. Nearly two-fifths of settings with ‘hard to fill’ vacancies (38 per cent) said shortages are leading to longer waiting lists for places, up from 20 per cent in 2018. Almost a third (31 per cent) were working below their preferred staff:child ratios, within statutory limits, up from 18 per cent in 2018.
Pay
Data on sector pay was collected in the About EY Finance Survey 2019, taking into account statutory pay rises in April 2019.
The average pay for a childcare practitioner is £8.74 per hour, lower than the average hourly pay of £9.43 per hour for similar occupations in ‘caring, leisure and other services’, as set out in the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey.
Average practitioner pay is also below that of ‘elementary occupations’, such as cleaners and bar and waiting staff, listed by the ONS at £8.91.
The average hourly pay rate of nursery managers is £13.97, compared with an average for this ‘professional’ occupational group of £21.09.
Impact of Brexit
The Government’s plans for a points-based immigration system will exacerbate the situation, as more than 9,000 nursery workers are European Union nationals and the early years is not currently listed as a shortage occupation.
Moreover, average pay would need to increase by nearly 50 per cent for early years staff to meet the general earnings threshold. Findings show that 2.75 per cent of the early years workforce in non-domestic Ofsted registered provision (i.e. nurseries and pre-schools) are EU nationals – representing an estimated 9,150 staff.
London has the greatest reliance on EU nationals at 8.9 per cent of all employees, followed by the South East at 2.7 per cent.
From January 2021 the Government’s points-based immigration system will mean workers qualified to a minimum of Level 3 (A-Level or equivalent) will require a job offer and minimum salary of £25,600.
With average pay of £9 per hour for Level 3 staff, salaries would need to increase by 47 per cent to reach the general earnings threshold.
Impact on business
Recruitment challenges continue to inflate operating costs, putting rising pressure on pay in settings with posts that are difficult to fill (50 per cent), as well as increasing spending on recruitment (53 per cent).
Ceeda said it would be carrying out research this spring to establish the true impact of above-inflation rises to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates.
Staff turnover shows no change on the 2018 average of 15 per cent, and while pay looms large in the list of drivers for staff churn, it is not the only factor. Those actively job-hunting are also seeking better career progression (65 per cent), and greater freedom to use their initiative (57 per cent) and potential to the full (55 per cent).
Dr Jo Verrill, managing director at Ceeda, said, ‘Sadly these latest findings are all too familiar. The case for change has long been made, and early years staff understandably want to see a shift from evidence to action.
‘There is a clear, evidenced, need for a step-change in the status and rewards of early years careers. This will require radical change in the way people think about and value early education, matched by commensurate levels of public sector investment.’
What managers said
Many respondents felt a need for greater recognition and understanding of sector contribution from the Government and parents. While 98 per cent of setting owners and managers agreed with the statement ‘I view myself as a professional worker’, more than two-thirds disagreed that the Government (70 per cent) and general public (67 per cent) share the same view.
Two-thirds of setting owners and managers backed the creation of a professional sector body as a means to boost sector pay and status.
In response to the question, ‘What in your view would help to increase the status and rewards of a career in the early education and childcare sector?’, comments from owners and managers included:
‘To change the working name from nursery nurse to childcare professional and to upgrade the understanding of the public; that we are just as important as teachers.’
‘Making the EYPS/EYTS equivalent to QTS. Increasing the funding available to the early years sector, so Early Years Teachers and practitioners might be on salary bands similar to teachers in primary and secondary sectors.’
‘Better pay and higher standards of people entering early years. For too many years people have seen it as “babysitting” by people not intelligent enough to do anything else. We should call ourselves educators, not practitioners. Teachers are seen as professionals, yet we are doing the same, if not a more difficult, role.’
Why choose early years?
On a more positive note, more than 300 early years managers and owners commented on what they enjoyed about their role, emphasising ‘the joy and reward of seeing children develop and grow, and the variety and challenge each day brings’.
As one said, ‘Being an early years teacher is not a job; it is more like an adventure. You cannot be sure what questions you will be facing, what discoveries children will be making for their first time…there is no better job.’
- Read the report at https://aboutearlyyears.co.uk/our-reports
