Early years workforce
The expansion of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) has created thousands of jobs across Scotland and the ELC workforce now exceeds 46,000 people.
Recruiting and investing in ELC professionals
We ran a national recruitment campaign to attract people to a career in ELC, ensuring they were supported and able to develop in their roles.
We also worked with the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland to create additional capacity in the college and work-based learning sectors to train the additional staff required, including funding additional graduate level training places and Equity and Excellence Leads to support leadership within the sector. We have successfully recruited around 8,000 additional professionals, with the workforce now exceeding 46,000 people.
Investing in skills
Delivering a high quality early learning experience for children requires a dedicated, skilled and well-qualified workforce and we have invested in the workforce as we have grown it. Our national early learning and childcare induction pack supports new staff and provides advice and information to help them develop their skills and understanding.
In collaboration with leading partners, further learning opportunities are provided to support professionals throughout their career journey and continually enhance practice, for example through the suite of free continued professional learning (CPL) modules and a National Directory of CPL.
Pay and conditions
We encourage fair work practices across the ELC sector, including ensuring that staff are fairly remunerated.
To support this we provide local authorities with sufficient funding to allow them to set and pay sustainable rates to funded providers in the private and third sectors that enables the payment of the real Living Wage to ELC workers delivering the funded entitlement.