Child care has more to do with employee retention than many employers realize.
At Elevate Greater Akron and ConxusNEO’s recent Workforce Deep Dive, employers, workforce leaders, and community partners continued to examine the connection between workforce stability and employee access to reliable child care.
Ohio employers lose an estimated $862 million annually due to productivity losses tied to child care challenges. Employees continue to leave jobs, miss work, or reduce their participation in the workforce when reliable care is unavailable.
The good news? Communities across the country are demonstrating that employers can play a meaningful role in strengthening workforce retention by building innovative child care solutions for their employees.
One such example is just down the road in Alliance, Ohio – the Alliance Employment Promise. The program began when a local business leader, Coastal Pet Products CEO Jim Stout, discovered child care as the root cause of a valued employee’s attendance challenges. Rather than treating the issue as an employee problem, Jim and his peer employers worked together to create the Alliance Employment Promise. Today, their program allows over 90 employees access high-quality child care, strengthens the local child care provider network, and helps them improve employee retention and reliability. In fact, 3 employers have experienced 100% employee participant retention since the program began over 7 years ago.
Other Key Takeaways from the September 3rd Deep Dive
1. Employee retention is the starting point and reward.
Employers connect most readily to workforce outcomes: attendance, recruitment challenges, and the cost of replacing employees. Employer-driven child care solutions offer a return on investment from turnover avoidance that provides evidence as a sound business strategy.
2. Akron is positioned to lead.
Greater Akron already has many of the right partners engaged in improving local child care. The next step is building a stronger employer coalition to help shape solutions.
3. Practical solutions already exist.
Programs such as the Alliance Employment Promise demonstrate how employer-supported approaches can improve employee retention, attendance, advancement, and workforce participation while also supporting local child care providers. The event also examined employer coalitions in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Louisville, and Seattle.
4. Employers have a critical role to play.
When businesses bring workforce data, operational experience, and practical insight, innovative programs are found. Across the country, employer-led coalitions are building effective solutions and influencing policy.
If you’d like to dive even deeper, check out the recent Dreamers, Drivers, and Doers podcast with the September 3rd speakers.
A Call to Action
We are looking for employers who want to help lead the conversation. We invite you to participate in a special Workforce Retention Task Force on child care to lend your perspective and explore pilot ideas for Greater Akron.
This is not a request for a financial commitment. It is an invitation to shape a practical, employer-driven pilot for employee child care that strengthens your business.
The strongest workforce solutions are built with employers, not for employers. Greater Akron has an opportunity to lead, but success will require business voices at the table.
Interested in joining the Workforce Retention Task Force? Contact Emily Lundgard of Elevate Greater Akron today: elundgard@greaterakronchamber.org
Workforce Deep Dive Part 1 : Child Care Is a Business Issue, Not a Personal Challenge