In Bavaria, the number of childcare places in company daycare centers has increased in recent years. In 2023 there were 134 facilities for children of company employees, ten years earlier there were 113. According to the State Office for Statistics, there were almost 6,600 places available; in 2013 there were 4,658.
However, compared to the total number of daycare places available in the Free State, this corresponds to just 0.9 percent, as the Ministry of Social Affairs announced. The Bavarian Business Association (VBW) still sees room for improvement. Company daycare centers are a building block for the best possible care structure in order to retain and attract skilled workers, said Bertram Brossardt, VBW general manager.
“In our view, the potential has not been exhausted.” However: “In addition to individual childcare offers in companies, we need a sufficiently large, needs-based and high-quality infrastructure for childcare. The state is required here – company daycare centers can only supplement the offer to a limited extent.”
In Bamberg, the automotive supplier group Brose is currently building a care facility for young employees, which is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2025. Depending on needs, 20 to 40 places would then be available for one to six-year-old children, said a company spokesman. In addition, childcare for school children is offered in eleven of the 14 holiday weeks.
Brose has been running a “Kids Club” at its Coburg headquarters since 2010 to look after school children in the afternoon and during the holidays – including special courses and family events. The compatibility of family and work is an important prerequisite for efficient employees: “Even in stressful times, our employees have the certainty that their children are in good hands and feel comfortable.”
This means that booking times can be changed easily and drop-off and pick-up times are flexible. Brose says it doesn’t notice that there is a desperate need for educational staff for daycare centers everywhere: the current application process for the Bamberg facility is going very well. This is attributed to the concept, for example the care ratio is narrower than in many other facilities.
Free State in duty
The DGB in Bavaria sees a great need to expand childcare offerings – and primarily holds the Free State responsible. “But of course the establishment of company daycare centers can also be an important instrument for better reconciling professional requirements and care responsibilities,” said a spokesman. “In times when employers often complain about a shortage of skilled workers,” they are also required to make appropriate offers, such as company daycare centers or space quotas.
Company daycare centers would be particularly worthwhile for larger companies. The DGB cited hospital operators as an example, as the opening times could be adapted to the shift work of the employees. Only in February, for example, München Kliniken, i.e. the clinics of the city of Munich, opened a new daycare center in the Schwabing district. Twelve children of employees can be looked after here.
According to the announcement, there are also 180 additional daycare places or occupancy rights for the offspring of employees, as well as emergency child care that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Childcare is an important offer in terms of the compatibility of family and work and is part of a large package of measures to relieve the burden on hospital staff, it said. Munich Clinic has around 7,000 employees and is the largest municipal clinic network in southern Germany.
A company daycare center has advantages for companies and employees alike, emphasized VBW Managing Director Brossardt. “Organized childcare in the company makes it easier to combine work and family, because the offer and scope can be tailored precisely to the company’s characteristics and the employees’ individual working hours.” However, a company daycare center cannot be implemented for every company. Financing and organization are often a problem, especially for small and medium-sized companies. And finally there is the shortage of skilled workers among educators and childcare workers: “This means that even if the company is willing to offer the offer, there may be a lack of educational staff.”