All across the country, child care businesses ranging from family daycare centers to child care centers and preschools are experiencing a deluge of parent care requests looking for a spot for their child.
But most childcare providers’ hands are tied. Suffering from lack of childcare workers, childcare providers can barely keep up with the demand.
Before the pandemic, parents already experienced the struggle of finding childcare. Met with waitlist after waitlist after waitlist, parents call at least 20-30 preschools and daycare centers.
Due to the pandemic, most centers were forced to shut down and let go of some of their staff.
Worse, some centers had to close for good.
But now that businesses and offices are opening up again, parents have had to search for childcare everywhere.
However, childcare providers simply cannot do anything except add them to an ever growing waitlist due to lack of staff and childcare spots.
Are you having a hard time finding childcare staff for your center? Here are some tips on how you can attract the best candidates for your childcare center.
1. Emphasize health protocols in place.
Most childcare staff who have been let go simply do not want to go back to an unsafe working environment.
Let them know they will be safe and their health won’t be jeopardized while working at your daycare center.
With coronavirus variants mutating into highly infectious strains, the safety of their work environment has become one of a jobseeker’s key priority.
From sanitation procedures to regular health checkups and being updated about health protocols, show your daycare center or preschool as a workplace that’s fully informed and well-adapted to the latest guidelines when it comes to being a COVID-safe work environment.
2. Indicate sick leave benefits.
In an effort to help child care providers continue providing quality child care throughout the pandemic, the IRS has launched a sick leave benefit program.
Childcare owners can reimburse paid sick leave benefits for their staff when used for Coronavirus-related instances.
Having this benefit gives a childcare staff peace of mind that he or she won’t lose income.
3. Show them you’re well-prepared for any scenario.
Most childcare workers are dedicated to their job so much that even if they are out sick they will still worry about the children left behind.
Assure your potential employees that they need not worry about being dumped extra work or care for far too many children in case any of the staff gets sick.
Sharing your business continuity plan with them assures them that your center is well-prepared and can adapt fast without adding extra burden of work on the remaining staff.
Whether it’s coordinating and sharing resources with other daycare centers and preschools in the area, having a list of substitute childcare staff who can fill in temporarily for missing staff, or getting in touch with childcare provider groups and organizations who can guide you on how to handle these situations, these steps let potential hires know you will not leave them helpless in case any of them falls sick.
Potential hires will also feel secure and safe knowing you have plans in place and are in charge of fortifying your center against the threats brought about by COVID-19.
4. Raise wages.
Unemployed childcare staff cite compensation as a top factor for changing careers and industries.
Recently, the California Child Care Providers United has successfully bargained for a minimum $15 living wage for its 40,000 child care providers all over California.
While childcare providers may find it difficult to raise salaries and hourly wages offered without raising tuition fees, know that there is funding available for childcare businesses.
The American Rescue Plan and American Families Plan both support child care businesses to stay open and increase child care slots through funding.
Child care owners and directors can apply for the grants to help them fund their payroll and hire at a better wage to attract qualified, highly-skilled childcare workers.
We understand that childcare providers are doing the best they can to answer parents’ ever growing demand for quality childcare in their communities.
But until daycare centers, preschools, and all other types of childcare centers are able to hire qualified childcare workers, classrooms and childcare centers will remain closed and parents will keep on finding waitlists upon waitlists instead of childcare vacancies.
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