Penny's commute is an hour and a half each way. No wonder workers like her are quitting
New research shows 71 per cent of the city's care workforce live in greater western Sydney, while at least 50 per cent of the demand for their services – including aged care, childcare and disability care – is in districts to the east of the city, especially the northern beaches.
Community-based care workers spend an average of 1.5 hours in the car during each work day, while those who catch public transport to work in residential care centres spend an average of 2.3 hours commuting, research by specialist recruitment firm Orchard Talent Group shows.
The challenge of long commutes is affecting workers in other frontline sectors in Sydney, including health care and emergency services.
Many delivering care services are having trouble attracting suitable staff; some estimates show Australia faces a shortage of more than 100,000 workers in the aged care sector alone by 2030.
The Orchard Talent Group research found travel time was the biggest reason workers leave the care sector, followed by the cost of travel (including road tolls) and a lack of available transport. Pay rates were the fourth most common reason for leaving care work despite relatively low remuneration for workers in much of the care sector.
Orchard Talent Group chief executive Alex McDonald told the Committee for Sydney's recent Sydney Summit that demand for care services in Sydney's northern and eastern suburbs had doubled during the past decade.
'This hasn't been a gradual progression; this has been a rapid shift, and it's leading to some fairly significant challenges,' he said.
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