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G8 creates more than 100 educator training roles in NSW and Vic
Freya Lucas
Nov 11, 2022
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Early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider G8 Education has created more than 100 “educator in training” roles across New South Wales and Victoria to combat workforce shortages, also piloting a “mass induction” program.
The moves come in response to sector wide vacancies, which are at an all time high, with more than 7,200 roles currently being advertised across Australia.Job vacancy numbers in the sector have grown rapidly, with 1,000 of the vacant positions cropping up in the last six months alone. More than half of the vacancies (57 per cent) are in NSW and Victorian centres, which is why G8 Education has commenced the program in these states.
Workforce development is a priority for the provider, with Chief People Transformation Officer Tabitha Pearson saying the shortages “are at a critical level and are having ripple effects across communities. “ “Providers, including G8 Education, are being forced to partially close centres, reduce operating hours and even halt on taking new enrolments due to workforce shortages,” she said. “While we do our best to minimise these service changes, in the current environment it is, at times, unavoidable and this causes disruptions to our families.”
“We’re committed to finding innovative ways to recruit and develop more wonderful educators and teachers to help us support Australian families.” Internal research from G8 shows that employees who complete a VET qualification through the G8 Study Pathway Program stay, on average, twice as long as non-study pathways qualified team members. “We know we need to think differently if we want to overcome our current workforce challenges,” Ms Pearson said, “which is why we are so excited to invest more in ‘growing our own’ and creating study and development pathways for our current and prospective team.”
Zoe Bumpstead is one of the newly recruited participants in the program, working with Great Beginnings Mount Clear. “I wanted to start in the early learning sector, but I wasn’t sure how I would juggle work with study until I found the role at Great Beginnings Mount Clear where the study is actually embedded into your daily routine,” she said.
She’s enjoying her new career path, and said that working with children is “just incredible. We get to witness huge milestones in children’s lives every day like learning to walk or saying their first words, and it is such a privilege to be a part of those moments.”
Zoe is supported by Centre Manager Julie Wilshire, who started with G8 as a trainee ten years ago. She welcomes the energy trainees bring with them to their roles, which she believes “reignites the passion in teams.” “If we are going to overcome our current workforce shortage challenges, investing in growing our own educators and teachers and nurturing meaningful career pathways is so important,” she said.
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