A new year is rapidly approaching, and we've had candidates and Early Years clients asking us about the Early Years recruitment trends for 2024 across the South West.
While it is difficult to predict with 100% accuracy what will happen in the sector, there are certain patterns that we think will play out in coming months.
By September 2025, every child under five years old will be entitled to 30 free hours of childcare, as announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Budget earlier in 2023.
This will require an additional 50,000 childcare professionals to join the sector in 2024, and a further 50,000 in 2025 to meet demand and keep existing nursery places open.
We predict therefore that nursery staff and Early Years workers will be in high demand in the coming year ahead, and this means a busy time ahead.
Longer-term reform is needed to stabilise the Early Years sector across the South West, at a time when many staff in the sector are considering leaving Early Years and childcare work altogether.
There has been a massive rise in dependency on agency workers across the region in the last 12 months, as well as increased pressure on permanent employees.
We also believe that a strategy of 'retain and return' should be adopted by nursery settings across the region, to entice more candidates to stay.
There are trends in Early Years recruitment that need to become more well-established to retain high-quality workers, including:
Early Years professionals' pay is aligned with the wider education workforce
Diversity is improved through national recruitment programmes
Increased opportunities for flexible working for Early Years practitioners
We hope to see better funding and more training introduced across the Early Years sector in the year ahead. This is a necessity, not as trend.
If you're thinking about working in the Early Years sector in the South West, read this to find out about the qualities needed to work in the sector.
Check out this article on how to prepare the perfect CV for nursery work.
We are always available to have an informal chat with new or experienced Early Years staff and nursery workers across the South West, and can be reached on 0117 930 4000 or by visiting here.