PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Hundreds of Philadelphia-area child care centers are holding a regional job fair on Thursday to try to address a critical shortage of staff. The crisis is causing some centers to close and enrollment waiting lists to grow.
Hiring shortages have hit many industries. Central to the issue is the fact that potential workers cannot find child care — and child care providers cannot find enough workers.
A survey conducted by the advocacy group Start Strong PA found that 96% of child care providers in the five-county region were short-staffed. So area centers got together to plan what they call the "Southeast PA Day of Hire for Child Care." More than 600 early childhood education programs in the region are conducting a day of on-the-spot job interviews on Oct. 7.
Damaris Rodriguez-Alvarado, the owner of two Children's Playhouse Early Learning Centers in South Philadelphia, says offering competitive salaries to workers without raising prices for clients is a challenge.
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"We have child care centers closing because they can’t find staff. They can’t compete with Walmart. They can’t compete with Amazon to try to recruit folks," Rodriguez-Alvarado said.
She says there is a backlog of more than 50 families waiting for a chance to enroll one child or more. She says she has at least eight jobs currently open, and she says her centers are mandating COVID-19 vaccines for staff – which may cause even more workers to leave.
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Participating child care providers will post something yellow, such as balloons, outside on Oct. 7 to signify that they are hiring.
Federal money for child care proposed in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan would go a long way toward easing the staffing crisis, she said.
For more details on the Day of Hire event, click here.