The 2023 Child Care Management Software Industry Trends Report from Procare Solutions found that 58% of those who responded to the survey used to compile the report stated they have room for more children in their programs. 

So why are they not enrolling more children? The answer: staffing shortages. 

At a time when child care programs should be amping up their enrollment, a shortage of staff is directly linked  to most programs being under capacity. 

Let’s take a deeper look at the report’s findings on enrollment and staffing, and what you can do to better manage the staff you do have!

The Need for Child Care Staff Grows

As wages in other sectors have grown dramatically in recent years to attract workers and amid high inflation, teachers and other child care staff are seeking other forms  of employment that pay more and are less stressful.

So, as the overall U.S. job market has bounced back from the coronavirus pandemic, and working parents increasingly continue to return to the office (at least on a hybrid schedule), employment in the child care industry is dropping. 

The need to recruit and attract new employees is not going away. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be about 170,000 openings for child care workers projected each year, on average, over the next decade. 

Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or leave the labor force, such as to retire.

This data indicates that centers will continue to struggle with high demand and must find ways to get to full capacity.

Staff Management is Critical 

With Procare, your child care center can easily keep track of staff information, including availability/scheduling, immunization records, background checks and additional details of employment. 

This makes it easy to build a network of qualified child care providers that can be accessed to fill full-time roles or to substitute for a full-time staff member who is sick or absent. Procare also helps streamline staff management activities such as time cards, payroll and calculating benefit hours. 

Filling out paperwork with pen and paper is tedious. And it’s a pain for you to input all that information into your system. Procare can automate all of this for you. And you can store signed documents in one central location. 

Child care administrators can use the Procare child care mobile app to communicate directly with staff members about scheduling changes, new policies and procedures as well as initiatives to improve operations and safety at the center.

Procare’s technology allows teachers and staff to sign in and out easily using a tablet. Timecards automatically are updated!

Learn More About How Procare Can Help!

Procare Solutions gives you the tools you need to grow your enrollment and overcome staffing challenges.

By using daycare software, you can manage child-to-staff ratios while helping your staff do their jobs more easily, which reduces their stress and lessens the chance of burnout.

Download this free infographic to learn more about how child care management software from Procare can help address challenges in child care staffing, and join us for a personalized demo to get your questions answered.