Many companies already invest in employer-sponsored child care — and focus on what is best for their employees now. But, to achieve long-term success, companies need to ensure they are laying the right foundation for their employees’ children — as well as the workforce of tomorrow.
Primrose Schools, the leader in early education and care, understands how important it is for companies to recruit and retain top talent, and through Primrose on PremiseSM, we’re helping them strengthen their own workforce while also empowering them to prepare the next generation of leaders.
As we look ahead, here are five key trends shaping the future of employer-sponsored child care:
1. HR professionals recognize the impact of first five years on the workforce of tomorrow.
A sponsored by Primrose Schools revealed a lack of job candidates with the soft skills required for 21st-century success — skills like perseverance, collaboration and compassion. But capitalizing on the rapid brain growth that takes place during the first five years of life may offer the solution. The reports that children’s early life experiences influence their capacity for these executive function skills, and laying the foundation for such skills is one of the most important tasks of the early childhood years.
Parents, educators and even employers should focus on making the most of this time to maximize each child’s potential. That’s one of the reasons why Primrose Schools entered the employer-sponsored sector after building a coast-to-coast footprint of schools. Our mission is to forge a path that leads to a brighter future for all children, and we want to help nurture the intellectual, creative, physical and social-emotional skills children need to succeed in school, the workplace and throughout life.
2. Curriculum is an important factor in selecting a child care provider.
When it comes to employer-sponsored child care, the quality of the curriculum is often an important differentiator because it directly correlates to student outcomes. At Primrose, our research-informed , which is implemented in nearly 400 schools across the country, balances purposeful play with nurturing guidance from teachers to build curiosity, creativity, confidence and compassion. Children graduate from Primrose with a strong foundation for learning and life — and they consistently demonstrate a high attainment of school readiness concepts.
We developed this exclusive approach because our Education Team was not satisfied with off-the-shelf curriculum options. So, we assembled an expert early education panel to help us design a proprietary curriculum that blends leading early learning philosophies with current early learning and brain development research. The result is a multi-faceted approach that enables life-changing early learning experiences for children and their families.
3. “New mom math” is real.
When new moms prepare to head back to work after unpaid maternity leave, there comes a point when they must evaluate their finances and determine their margin of net salary after taxes and child care. Oftentimes, there is no margin, which leads some working parents to leave their jobs or seek a career opportunity with a more reduced schedule.Our Primrose on Premise team understands this equation. We approach solutions with flexibility and innovation to help companies identify the right financial model to meet the needs of both the business and employees – and ultimately ensure that working parents can afford to enroll in the on- or near-site child care program and focus on their careers.
4. Private sector companies are feeling the talent pinch.
Employer-sponsored child care was quickly adopted by some of the biggest names in the public sector. However, in the future, the private sector will be more readily turning to on- or near-site child care to remedy the talent pinch they’re experiencing.
As major metropolitan cities continue to grow, the struggle to recruit and retain top talent only becomes more competitive.
Employers that already invest in child care know that making this offering more convenient and affordable for employees often provides many advantages: more effective recruitment, higher retention, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, stronger morale and more. Companies will need to be more creative with their recruitment packages, so we can expect employer-sponsored child care to play a big role in the private sector.
At Primrose, we understand every organization is different, so we believe there should not be a “cookie-cutter approach” to our on- or near-site child care offering. After all, if companies believe employer-sponsored child care is a differentiator, then Primrose on Premise must create a truly impactful early learning experience for each organization to better serve their families and to help build our future workforce.
5. An evolving workforce is leading to more family-friendly benefits.
The growing number of single parents, dual-income households and employees having children later in life have led to an increase in family-friendly benefits that meet a broader range of employee needs. With millennials taking over as the largest segment of the workforce, we will see companies challenging their employer-sponsored child care providers to keep pace. Companies must keep the ever-changing needs of employees top of mind and keep benefits competitive, and each Primrose on Premise school maintains an individual agreement to deliver the best service possible to the company, its employees and ultimately, their children.
Just as no two children are alike, we’ve discovered that no two employer-sponsored schools are the same. At Primrose on Premise, we’re focused on leveraging employer-sponsored child care trends to help create a truly impactful early learning experience for each organization to better serve their employees and help build our future workforce.
If you’re interested in learning more about Primrose on Premise, please contact us online.
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