40% of parents are open to or actively seeking new jobs, according to new report
The Great Resignation could turn into the Great Renegotiation for many employers, especially with working parents, according to a new report.
Currently, 40% of parents are open to or actively seeking new jobs, based on the study released by KinderCare Learning Companies. But it’s not all about them. In fact, over half of them would stay in their current jobs if any childcare benefits were offered to them. Sixty-eight percent believe that employers should offset the cost of childcare for their employees
“The Parent Confidence Report tells us that the majority of working parents in this country have redesigned their lives to be more available to their children and consider childcare benefits a top priority when making career decisions,” said Dan Figurski, President of KinderCare Education at Work and Champions.
One in five children, either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, this need is not always met: less than 30% of working parents say their company offers child care benefits that meet their needs, found the survey of 2,023 parents with children aged 12 and younger, conducted from Jan. 14 to 22, 2022.
Currently, 81% of working parents say a company’s childcare benefits are important to the job consideration process. Sixty percent of them would stay in their current jobs if they had subsidized child care and another 60% would stay if given on-demand child care. However, only 22% and 25% of workers, respectively, currently have access to these benefits.
A majority of working parents have or have considered scaling back their hours at work (74%), taking on less demanding roles (71%) and pursuing freelance jobs (69%) to be more available for their children. This comes at a time when millions of workers are quitting their jobs and employers are having a hard time finding the workers that they need.
“This presents a major opportunity for employers who are focused on attracting and retaining talent, especially in a competitive job market like the one we’re in today,” said Figurski. “Employer-sponsored childcare benefits are one of the most impactful benefits to offer employees moving forward.”
And today, many HR leaders are looking at their current benefits offerings to workers, and looking at possible extending it to their children and their entire family, Haleigh Tebben, chief commercial officer at Brightline, previously told HRD.
“The talent war is intense and it’s increasingly difficult to retain employees,” Tebben told HRD. “With COVID-19 blurring the line between work and home, HR leaders are asking how they can extend what they’re already doing for employees to the entire family unit. There’s a huge influx of interest from employers.”
Also, now's the time for employers to reset their employee value proposition, said Marc Detampel, managing director of Felix Global, a Chicago-based firm that offers full-service recruitment, in speaking with HRD.
“Make sure that your employee value proposition, which includes your company culture and how you support work/life balance, is well articulated,” Detampel told HRD. “How people are expected to be working and how they're going to stay connected with their colleagues and leaders has never been more important.”
