Picking Winners In Jobs Market
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday February 25, 1995
WHILE once a tertiary qualification was a guarantee of future employment, these days there are people not simply with university degrees but with doctorates, who cannot find work.
At the same time there are certain vocational categories where there is a particularly high demand for workers. According to Federal Government projections, the job categories where significant growth is expected over the next few years include pharmacists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, accountants, computing professionals, economists and veterinarians.
All these groups are expected to record employment growth of more than 50 per cent between 1991 and 2001. The biggest growth areas are tipped to be social workers (up 83 per cent up) and psychologists (up 93 per cent).
One of those areas where demand is outstripping supply is in child care. The number of child care co-ordinators is tipped to rise by more than 40 per cent in the decade to 2001. Child-care (and refuge) workers as an employment category is expected to increase by about 25 per cent.
Since 1991 the number of NSW child-care centres approved for Federal child-care assistance has jumped from 721 to 1,238. That is despite the stalemate between the State and Federal governments which has delayed the funding of a further 3,000 long-day-care places in NSW.
Associate Professor George Lewis, of Macquarie University's Institute of Early Childhood, says the growth rate in the private centres run for profit (as opposed to independent non-profit, or government-funded centres) was 103 per cent for the two years to 1994.
While universities, TAFEs and private-training providers have boosted their student numbers in this area, surveys show there are insufficient child care facilities, and insufficient child-care workers, to meet demand.
June Wangmann, head of Macquarie University's Institute of Early Childhood, says that it is estimated that for children below the age of three, in NSW there is still about 25 per cent unmet demand. In some areas the demand for care for children aged between three and five is not being met either.
"There are just not enough centres. While there has been a dramatic increase in child care in the last decade, we have really only been treading water, because of the dramatic increase in women's participation in the workforce," she says.
Diane Roberts, NSW president of the Australian Early Childhood Association, runs a long-day-care centre in Murwillumbah. "I recently spent $2,000 advertising in the Sydney, Brisbane and Murwillumbah papers and from that I ended up with only one qualified person to interview. Another service up here has been looking for 12 months for a trained teacher." Judy Kynaston, who runs the Country Children's Services Association of NSW, says the situation in some country areas is so bad that the child-care centres are forced to get special dispensation from the NSW Department of Community Services to use staff not qualified in early-childhood care to maintain child-teacher ratios. Often, however, these staff are primary or secondary school teachers.
It is the long-day-care centres which are finding it the hardest to get staff. Open from 7.30 am to 6 pm, the staff are constantly with the children and usually work on a shift system. Unlike their counterparts in preschool or out-of-school-hours care, they get four instead of 11 weeks holiday a year. They also have to do many of the domestic tasks, such as keeping the centre clean in the daytime, and doing the washing. They don't, however, get any extra money - which is why many prefer the better conditions and shorter contact hours of the preschools.
Child care has never been well-paid. A person with an associate diploma and two years' experience, working in a community-based centre is paid an award rate of $441.90 gross for a 38-hour week. Someone with a Bachelor of Education (three-year degree), with the same workplace experience would earn about $575 a week in a long-day-care centre. There may be an additional $65 a week allowance on top of that if they are working as a centre director. The rates vary slightly depending on whether the centre is local government, community-based or privately run.
KU Children's Services, which is the largest independent non-profit provider of child care in NSW, with almost 130 centres across the State, employs 850 child-care staff in its long-day-care, preschools, occasional care and out-of-school hours care.
According to Lesley Bluett, KU's manager of children's services, the organisation is constantly advertising for trained staff. To cushion itself, KU employs four permanent relief staff.
"That has been our answer to the dilemma of trying to find casual staff. It is costly, but our priority is having qualified staff where and when we require them," Ms Bluett says.
The Australian Academy, a private training provider which also runs two corporate child-care centres, this month won the tender to run a third day-care centre for staff at the new Darling Harbour casino. Trish Robinson, the academy's deputy managing director says: "We could easily open another centre tomorrow and fill it." However, the academy is focusing on providing courses in child care and business. The academy's approved associate diploma in child studies equates to the TAFE qualification.
The difference is that the study is more intensive and takes one year and one term to complete, instead of the more common two years.
Ms Robinson says by next month the academy will have about 130 students enrolled in child-care studies. Similarly, TAFE and the universities have lifted their places.
According to June Wangmann, early-childhood studies is the biggest growth area in education. This year Macquarie University has taken in more than 100 extra students, taking to 380 new enrolments for its Bachelor of Education degree. NSW TAFE is taking about 900 new students for its associate diploma course.
Despite this increase in places, the providers say demand for child-care training remains strong. They also report that all their graduates who want to work are able to find jobs.
Some, however, are opting to do further study to improve their financial prospects in the industry with a university qualification. In that case, the associate diploma is credited towards a degree.
© 1995 Sydney Morning Herald