Early years sector looks to hire laid-off bankers

Stephen Kramer, chief executive of Bright Horizons, the second largestnursery chain in the country, told CYP Now: "We have had increasedinterest from professional, financial and legal services. We aretargeting recent graduates who would have gone into these sectors andemployees who may have been affected by the current climate."

The company is working closely with universities to promote childcarecareers to graduates, while also attending recruitment fairs in areaswhere there have been job losses. Kramer hopes that, after a taste ofworking with early years children, newcomers will want to stay in thesector despite comparatively low pay.

Westminster Children's Society, which claims to be London's largestchildcare charity, is also looking to benefit from lay-offs in the city."The government has said that professionals such as city bankers cantrain to be a teacher in six months," said Neil King, the charity'shuman resources manager. "We're looking at how we can persuade some ofthose people to work in early years, by looking at where we target ouradvertising."