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Finland’s early childhood education and care sector is facing a dual crisis: a growing shortage of qualified staff and increasing unemployment among existing workers. At the same time, access to further training for childcarers has become severely limited.
The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) warns that, without urgent action, the sector will not be able to meet the legal staffing requirements set to take full effect in 2030 under the updated Early Childhood Education and Care Act.
JHL said the workforce situation has deteriorated since the abolition of the adult education benefit, which previously enabled many childcarers to pursue training while working. The union argues that with education pathways now effectively blocked, there is no realistic way to build the skilled workforce required under the reformed legislation.
Staff shortages are especially acute in positions that require formal qualifications, including early childhood teachers and social pedagogues. At the same time, many childcarers are stuck in fixed-term contracts and working under ongoing uncertainty.
A JHL survey conducted in 2024 among its members found that the longer a childcarer has worked in the field, the less likely their employer is to discuss career development during performance reviews.
Hanna Takolander, JHL’s Senior Education Policy Specialist, said this undermines the goal of developing new qualified personnel from within the existing workforce. “There are many childcarers with years of experience, but their opportunities to become teachers or pedagogues are not being supported,” she said.
More than 2,000 members responded to the union’s survey. Many said they no longer had access to self-initiated study options or education plans. JHL has proposed that municipalities and private childcare providers be required to train experienced childcarers into qualified roles.
“This would help prevent violations of the Act when the new requirements take full effect,” Takolander said.
The union says morale in the sector is declining. Unequal treatment between different staff groups and poor access to career progression are affecting recruitment and retention. Many of the problems, JHL says, stem from workplace conditions, including staff wellbeing, coping with job demands, and the challenges of leadership and understaffing.
“Early childhood education and care is in crisis,” Takolander warned. “If nothing changes, the problems will only deepen. There is already unemployment in the sector, and we can only imagine what the situation will look like when the new law becomes binding.”
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
