To wonder if any other employers have struggled to fill positions?

[bitjel]

We have had NO interest in a couple of our roles for over a year and have even gone through then job centre (no help). Is unemployment so low ate the moment that there is no-one to fill roles?

…..and having to put up with cheeky unruly children whose parents say their children would never say/ do that and are always soooo well behaved!
I know….my husband did that job once!

is there a way of combining the role with another to increase the hours. Is it beginning and end of day as well?

It’s a difficult one as people usually are part time for a reason, like childcare. If you are retired it means you are tied to school holidays.

have you tried agencies, I know it costs but I would consider this a good case to try.

My DS has been applying for lots of jobs but only got one interview and he did not get that job. There are definitely people looking for work. However, my DS would not apply for your job as, though he is not fussy about type of role, he wants full time.

So is it occasional work? Term time only pro rata?

Those with a minibus licence can earn a lot of money working doe a bus company.

Im guessing your salary and package is not as attractive as you think

I also suspect that if people have a license and desire to drive a minibus, there are easier roles available. Driving a school minibus for children is a lot of responsibility. Drivers would probably rather be taking families to the airport or sports teams to a fixture or something like that.

I know of one person that did this type of role in their sixties after they retired from their full time career. Given the rise in the state pension age to 66 and then 67, more people will be staying in their usual role longer. Will the driver have an assistant to help or will they be working alone? Also, DBS. Checks may rule out some.

Is it because it isn't a FT job? If it's to and from school then it eats into the day but only pays a few hours. But if it is full time, ferrying pupils to and from sports grounds and swimming and train stations etc then it sounds like a lovely job.

At 18 hours a week, but only able to do your own thing between about 10 and 1.30pm, it's pretty much restricting the driver to stay near home all day but only paying for something like 7.10-9.30am and 3-4pm (and there's travel to and from work to add to that).

It might be that an existing member of staff would like that role which would help fill the gap. Although I appreciate that they might be exhausted by the end of the day and not need the extra money (I'd do it though!).
The wage for the role is decent but it will be the term time and split nature of the working day putting most people off.

The school I work in doesn't recruit dinner ladies any more, the TAs do it. It makes for a full on day with only a 15 minute break, but it does make sense from a recruitment point of view.

Is it split shifts?

This is what I earn FT!!

What area is this?

Are there passenger assistants to help the pupils?

Very surprised you cannot fill this role for that pay. Can you split the role? I am assuming it is a few hours in the morning and then a few in the afternoon? If so, it could be the split shifts putting people off.

Would be interested to know more about what type of work this is, sounds ideal!

How old are these children? Do they sit quietly on the bus or are they habitually noisy or disruptive? Are there other adults on the bus? I would not take charge of a busful of young children if you offered me a million pounds per shift.

It's SEN. You'd hope there was another adult onboard.

I was looking round a school for my son recently and the woman who showed me round and runs the early years also drives the minibus on the side!

I think the trouble is since the pandemic there has been a lot of demand for drivers. They could make more money and have better hours doing supermarket deliveries and with those you get a discount as well. My boss's husband does it, who is semi-retired and he's basically just doing it for the Waitrose discount.

OP I'm in Ireland and the school bus situation is dire and schools cannot get drivers. My son has asd and is on the bus for longer than we'd like each day but that is the only bus available to take him. I know of people who had spaces in special classes and quite literally could not get transportation to and from school and the only option was to drive themselves and claim a grant for it but it's not always an option if the person doesn't drive themselves and also if they have other children to take to school. So not just you and it's not a budget issue. No one wants to do the job.

What's the job and where?

What's the local rental costs?

Shit pay is shit pay… even if it’s the ‘norm’ for that rule. It’s why there’s a shortage of carers. Shit pay.

You need someone who can accept vey low take home pay in exchange for a clean license and DBS. Almost a unicorn. And presumably they will need their own transport to get to and from wherever the school bus is stored ? So that's another requirement.

You can't magic up people from nowhere. And even assuming there are qualified candidates for the position, they also have to want to do it. Another requirement.

Are you advertising the job in the school emails? My son's bus driver is a parent of one of students at the school, so would be driving him in anyway. Now he gets paid to do it.

Could you split the role so someone does mornings and someone does afternoons? I know its good to have continuity of staff so you wouldn't want to split it more than that but it might appeal to more people

I’d guess the hours and shift patterns the problem

Or to put it another way, the pay is not enough to compensate for the stress and the inconvenience of the job!

I guess you need a class 2 licence for the role? I'm going back to when I sat a advanced awareness course with MIDAS.

Since 1997 people have had to take an extended test rather than have automatic grandfather rights. In theory you are asking for people born pre 1980 really. How many of those would be looking for part time work? Over 60's won't want the early start times I'd imagine and most 44 year olds will still be working full time. Those who have Class 2 through examination i'd imagine would want to work full time.

Of course if your minibus is under 3.5t then the above does not apply.

You are asking for a small pool of people to apply really.