Nursery World - Early years staffing under increasing strain

Widespread recruitment and retention problems in nurseries are leading to a rise in workplace stress, according to a new report.

More than one in four early years settings were 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 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.

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