SAN ANTONIO — The YMCA of Greater San Antonio needs to add 30 child care workers to clear its 400-child wait list, chief human resources officer Stacy Oksenberg said Monday.
The local Y recently bumped hourly wages from from $10 to $12.50 to attract new workers. It is also offering a $250 sign-on bonus.
Labor Bureau statistics suggest that San Antonio's Y is not alone in its struggle to fill vacant positions. School-sponsored extracurricular programs are understaffed, too.
As of August, nearly 127,000 Americans who worked in child care prior to the pandemic have not returned to their old jobs.
But, as adults return to in-person work, child care demand is returning to pre-pandemic levels.
"Parents have to make tough choices," Oksenberg said. "Some families are having to make the decision to leave the work force to care for their kids after school."
She notes that it was not especially easy to fill child care jobs prior to the pandemic.
"Offering really high-quality child care is important to us," she said. "It takes time to find the right staff through a pretty stringent vetting process."
Unlike other employers, daycares and after-school programs cannot lower standards to fill positions. They can't adjust hours to make the work more lucrative, either.
It may be easier to find employees once most elementary school students can take the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer expects its shot will be approved for children ages 5-11 in the coming weeks.
Until then, Oksenberg is asking parents to be patient and to keep an eye for people who are good with children and looking for a job.