‘Like a six figure salary’: Australian childcare centres reveal ways to win, keep staff

Currently there are nearly 12,000 vacancies for “early childhood” roles in Australia. See the extraordinary lengths childcare centres are going to win and keep staff.

Exclusive: Diamond earrings, $50,000 relocation bonuses, $1 a day childcare and free breakfasts.

These are some of the extraordinary incentives struggling childcare providers are hoping will win them new employees and help keep them.

It comes as one in seven long day care centres report they are operating without the required number of qualified staff, as workers continue to quit the industry citing poor pay and conditions.

Currently there are nearly 12,000 vacancies for “early childhood” roles on the job site Seek.

To try and turn the trend around, one of the biggest providers Busy Bees introduced a 95 per cent discount off childcare gap fees for staff with kids enrolled in one of its centres, meaning the daily fee is under $5 a day and as cheap as $1.

“If you take the savings on childcare into account, it’s like having a six figure salary,” Busy Bees Head of Marketing Phillip Hay said.

The group also offers above award wages.

Busy Bees has 150 centres and 175 job adverts on Seek.

Busy Bees Burpengary, i, north Brisbane, has 16 staff who have children who also attend the centre and receive a discount on fees. Picture: Jamie Hanson

Its Burpengary centre, north of Brisbane, happens to be a hotspot for staff taking advantage of the discounted childcare offer, with 16 workers bringing one or more children to work with them.

Lead educator at Burpengary, Tiegen Beard, 29, said she is saving nearly $200 a week now that she gets a discount on childcare for her daughter Elliana, aged one.

“I now pay $8 a week – it’s phenomenal,” Ms Beard said.

“It makes a huge difference and means my partner doesn’t have to work a sixth day.”

Other providers are following suit.

Employers have been offering incentives, such as free breakfasts at Green Leaves Early Learning, to attract new childcare workers. Picture: Facebook

Green Leaves Early Learning, which currently operates 53 centres nationally, offers free breakfasts for all staff and a 75 per cent discount on gap fees which means they pay no more than $11 per day, per child for child care.

G8 Education, the largest for-profit long day care provider in Australia, gives school-age students paid work experience and scholarships that include paid study time.

Others are handing out cash.

The Victorian Government is one of the best payers, offering relocation incentives of up to $50,000, depending on how far someone moves for the job, whether they have dependants and how long they stay for.

Not-for-profit Goodstart is offering $3000 sign-on bonuses.

Long term staff of Pachamama, a small childcare provider in WA, a rewarded with diamond earings.

While in WA, a small childcare provider called Pachamama, rewards loyal staff who stay with them for seven continuous years with a pair of diamond earrings.

Industry expert and founder of the app KindiCare, Benjamin Balk, said there are some fantastic perks for employees, but said that advocacy groups are in danger of overstating the negatives.

“Lost in the conversation is the fact that early learning and care offers an incredibly fulfilling career with flexible hours and benefits that can be tailored around family commitments and career objectives,” Mr Balk said.

Thrive by Five director Jay Weatherill says the government needs “real solutions” to address childcare worker shortages. Picture: Sarah Reed

Advocacy group Thrive by Five’s Director Jay Weatherill argued the government needed “real solutions for the early childhood education and care workforce shortage” and called for it to provide an interim 10 per cent wage supplement for early childhood teachers and educators in the upcoming federal budget.

“Early childhood educators deserve greater respect and a pay rise to give them a reason to stay or improve the chances of attracting new workers to the sector,” Mr Weatherill said.