The National Children's Bureau and Social Education Trust report is based on a survey of more than 170 staff as well as more detailed interviews with workers.
Of those surveyed, 84 per cent were either satisfied or very satisfied with their job. But among major concerns were recruitment and retention, with all managers interviewed citing difficulty in this area.
Report authors Anne Campbell and Aisling McLaughlin said the most worrying factor was "the absence of a clearly defined solution to the problem".
The report also found staff in Northern Ireland are significantly better trained than their counterparts in the UK. Just over half of those surveyed held a professional qualification, compared to around 15 to 20 per cent elsewhere in the UK.
www.ncb.org.uk.
