The latest annual Workforce Survey conducted by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) shows 86 per cent of nurseries lost at least one employee in the past year and there are now almost 20 per cent fewer practitioners qualified to level 3 than there was in 2015.
Of the level 3 staff who left their jobs, two-fifths quit the early years sector entirely. Two thirds of nursery managers told the survey they are unable to recruit suitable replacements for qualified staff due to a lack of applications.
The survey also found that 34 per cent of nursery workers are also considering leaving the profession because of low pay or because they have lost their passion for the sector due to policy changes.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, said the government must take urgent action before the situation gets worse and nurseries begin limiting funded places and close their doors.
"The results of our survey are shocking and show the true staffing crisis in our nurseries," she said.
"Our members are genuinely concerned that they won't be able to deliver 30 hours of funded childcare if numbers of qualified staff continue to drop.
"Nurseries are having to work increasingly tightly to statutory adult-to-child ratios, but this has knock-on consequences for their ability to support children with behavioural or other needs for which they don't get additional funding."
She added that as a result nurseries are increasingly looking to build waiting lists of children because they are trying to recruit extra staff.
"Ultimately this will mean fewer childcare places for working families and could call into question the quality of delivery if not enough qualified staff are present," said Tanuku.
NDNA said the Department for Education needs to develop a better understanding of the cost pressures facing nurseries and revise the current workforce strategy to address both short- and long-term recruitment and retention challenges in early years.
It also called for a campaign to attract high-quality staff into the sector and the creation of an early years workforce investment fund to financially support the sector to retain its workforce.
Chris Gallagher of the Wonder Years Nursery in Coventry told the survey: "We are desperate for good-quality level 3 practitioners that want to upskill and contribute to our workforce, but the quality of applicants is truly shocking."
John Thompson of the Spinney Day Nursery in Chester added: "The 30 hours offer and resultant debates have effectively depressed the sector. Nursery nurses are beginning to worry that it may lead to a loss of employment, especially when they hear of nurseries closing down due to the shortage of funding."
The NDNA's workforce survey also revealed that a third of early years employers are limiting continuing professional training to the mandatory minimum because of budget constraints.
In addition, 79 per cent of practitioners told the survey they are working overtime to cover staffing shortfalls despite the risk of burnout and quality of provision.
A total of 522 nurseries and 315 individual practitioners took part in the survey.
