Unpacking workforce pressures: What the 2025 OSD Report reveals about ECEC shortages

Australia’s early childhood workforce continues to face deep, structural shortages, driven by training constraints and retention challenges, according to the latest Occupation Shortage Driver Report 2025 from Jobs and Skills Australia.

• Data transformation using standard deviation thresholds to reduce volatility and improve stability in how shortages are assessed.
• A new data source for retention analysis, shifting from the ABS’s PJSM survey to Jobs and Skills Australia’s Data on Occupation Mobility (DOM), after the ABS deemed its own data unsuitable for year-on-year analysis.

• What’s driving it: Sustained increases in workforce demand, linked to higher labour force participation by women and growing recognition of early childhood education’s value.
• The numbers: An estimated 21,000 additional teachers are needed to meet current demand and ensure sustainable workloads.
• What’s needed: System-level responses, including increased throughput in teacher education programs, addressing constraints in placements and boosting the VET teaching workforce.

• What’s driving it: Low pay, poor working conditions and lack of access to social infrastructure continue to impact job satisfaction and longevity.
• What’s needed: A dual response from both employers and government, including better remuneration, improved workplace culture, and stronger social supports such as childcare access and health services.

• Suitability gap: Candidates are qualified on paper but lack experience or soft skills expected by employers. Predominant in professional roles such as engineering.
• Retention gap in care and food services: Similar to child carers, aged care workers and bakers experience high attrition rates linked to work conditions.
• Uncertainty: Some roles, such as registered nurses, have moved into an ‘Uncertain’ category, reflecting complex, multi-factor causes that require more nuanced analysis.

• Training gaps demand long-term investment in workforce supply, including incentives, flexible pathways and expanded training capacity.
• Retention gaps require improved pay, conditions and workplace culture to keep educators in the sector.
• Systemic responses must reflect the unique drivers within each occupational group and move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions.