As the competition for top talent heats up across law firms (and dare I say it, the private sector) it is becoming apparent that the best and brightest law graduates are looking for more than the best salary. Firm culture and access to other key benefits are central to their decision making, here’s why access to emergency childcare is on their priority list, and should be on yours.

Access to emergency childcare supports the attraction and retention of your best lawyers

Seventeen percent of women leave the workforce after childbirth—nearly one fifth of the talented women in your organisation. That’s a significant amount of talent that needs to be replaced, which incurs costs of its own, let alone the productivity cost of lost billable hours. By providing flexible backup and regular childcare you demonstrate to your entire firm that you care about their ability to look after their family and their ability to contribute to the firm—an aspect that both men and women factor into their decision making when evaluating an employer.

Emergency childcare boosts productivity

The logic is simple: the more time your working parents have to spend supporting clients, the more revenue they bring in for the firm. It sounds mercenary, but is key to making a strong business case with shareholders. By providing your working parents with a useful and meaningful childcare solution you give them more time to do what they do best: work with their clients, while someone else takes care of their children.

Childcare supports culture change

Many law firms claim to be a great place to work, but few have meaningful benefits that demonstrate it. Childcare is one such benefit.

By giving your team the ability to access meaningful emergency and regular childcare you’re sending a clear message that you genuinely care about them and their ability to contribute to the firm and build a long, meaningful career. And that message doesn’t stop there. Though not every associate or partner may have children, every single one of them does care about how the firm treats their colleagues, and what benefits may be available to them in the future.

Emergency childcare prevents burnout

There’s been a pandemic making its way around the world these past couple of years, and that pandemic is burnout, felt particularly acutely amongst parents. Poorly managed, burnout can quickly lead to more acute anxiety and depression, compounding the problem further. By providing your working parents with emergency and regular childcare solutions you are giving them the most precious gift of all: time. Time to focus on themselves and the work at hand, and outsource some of their neverending to-do list.

Subsidised childcare for all supports inclusion

Subsidising regular and emergency childcare for every employee – male and female – facilitates a more equal split in caring responsibilities, and a more inclusive world (yes, that’s right, you’re changing the world!).

Why Childcare is Well Worth Investing in

Offering flexible, on-demand and emergency childcare for working parents allows you to attract (and keep hold of) the best candidates from a much wider talent pool. When employers share in the responsibility for childcare provision, it doesn’t only allow parents to show up: it allows them to show up with a whole different mindset. Your people will be proud to work for you, and they’ll be far more able to give you their best.

Get in touch to discover how Bubble can help with providing flexible, on-demand and emergency childcare support to your working parents.