8 minute read
Where Have All The Therapists Gone By Clare Lamberth
WHERE HAVE ALL THE THERAPISTS GONE? B y C l a r e L a m b e r t h
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It’s the cry from our industry at large right now. Resonating most in regional centres who are busy but struggling to grow or replace staff due to a short supply of therapists nationwide.
We speak to Therapists and Clinic Owners on the front lines of our industry to hear straight from those effected most where all our Therapists are going, and what the possible cause of this nation-wide staff shortage could be.
Nancy Abdou, Lead Education Specialist at The Australian Laser and Dermal Institute.
I hear this a lot when speaking to Clinic & Salon Owners. It definitely seems to be increasing. Either employers can’t find the great Therapists, or they lose them to other positions / career paths.
Over my 18 years in the industry I have left and re-entered the industry 4 seperate times. Each time was for the same reason, that the industry no longer brought me joy & I was forced to make a decision between my personal life and my career. point, embark on some pretty huge adventures & challenges in life.
- Marriage - Motherhood - Purchasing a Home - Mental health challenges - Physical health challenges
These times in our lives are already so stressful, the last thing we should worry about is how our careers may be affected.
Unfortunately, though, many Therapists choose to either leave the industry, or work from home, when things get too hard to manage, or when the working environment becomes unhappy. Not to mention the guilt that can come with letting an employer or your team down. Sadly, this is how many Therapists feel during the happiest times in their lives. “How am I going to tell my boss I’m pregnant, or that I need a few weeks over Spring Carnival to get married!” of finding out your star Therapist is pregnant. It’s one of excitement for them, but also stress and worry of how you’re ever going to fill that void!
I wish I had an easy solution, but my only thought is that we, as an industry, need to ensure that we let our valued therapists know (often) exactly how valued they are! Business owners sometimes forget that hard working, loyal therapists still need to know that you would hate to lose them.
Let them know that you will support them through their challenges (whatever they might be), and as long as you can make it work for your business, you’ll do whatever you can to make sure they remain happy at work & it fits in with their lives.
The Therapists I know who have stayed in the industry, have experienced employers that did this. It creates a mutual respect between Employer and Therapist and is a win win situation. The amazing therapists I know, who are no longer therapists, or work for themselves, experienced the opposite.
I actually have no idea! I can’t understand where all the qualified Beauty Therapists have gone! I know a lot that are doing nursing training so they can go into Dermal Therapies, and a lot have left the industry completely. But surely there must be Senior Therapists somewhere?! It’s so frustrating and super disappointing
I have been looking for a Senior Therapist for my Sunshine Coast Clinic since we came back from the first lockdown last year!! I’m a reputable clinic, I stock great brands, I’m a great boss, I have good values and opportunities for my staff. I have given up putting adverts in Seek, as you get too many randoms (not qualified) applying just for the sake of it.
The only Therapists that I get applying now are, girls still at Beauty School, or just qualified, which to be completely honest is a total waste of time. I’m finding new graduates are no where near salon ready! They can’t even wax a leg or underarm!
I’ve hired 2 Therapists straight from Beauty School in the past year, spent time, money and effort nurturing and training them for them to either leave to go to laser clinics or leave because they couldn’t handle the “pressure” of the job as it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. Servicing clients, rebooking, educating/ retailing to clients. I know a lot of therapists have set up at home or have the one room salons because they think they are going to make money.
It really is a massive problem for our industry that so many of us are struggling with. My business if suffering so much as we are very busy, at 95-100% capacity and utilisation but I can’t grow my business anymore, as I want to, because I don’t have the therapists to service our clients. My business is at a stand still at the moment, which is so frustrating because, since Covid my clients have realised how important self-care and treating your skin is to their mental health. So, they are wanting to come in more regularly for longer treatments. I would definitely consider sponsoring a therapist from the UK if that was an option.
Pru Ashe, Senior Therapist & Trainer, Macquarie Medi Spa
I feel Therapists leave the industry for a number of reasons. Saturdays have always been a hot topic in our industry. In my own role I have worked hard and been rewarded with more flexible working arrangements, so I am able to be with my children. Compromise is so important in the workplace.
Home salons have also played a big role in luring Therapists away from traditional clinic roles. There’s no regulation so literally anyone can set up in a spare bedroom. The rise over the last 5 years has been incredible. These makeshift businesses run without the large overheads of a commercial salon. Most do cash only so don’t pay tax, but also don’t always have the insurance and protection for the clients like commercial clinic are required to have. I see a lot of the home salons charging almost the same prices as commercial salons do, but don’t provide the experience.
I think Therapists initially chose the home salon path for more flexibility. You get to set your own hours/days to work for you. You can do what treatments you like none of what you hate and use only the products that you want I would say would be the perks. The downfall what happens if your sick there is no body to cover for you and you cancel your whole day and make no money that sounds scary to me. You take the full brunt of a complaint you’re doing the refund it’s just you dealing with somebody unhappy with nobody else to back you up. Sometimes I feel like people just want the cheapest service but my clients always say it’s the total experience we provide at the salon and they would pay anything within reason to have it over and over again.
Beck Fawcett, Senior Beauty Therapist Endota Canberra
I feel that since COVID, and the many lockdowns, Therapists are just unsure if this will happen again and have decided on a complete career change. Also, now Student Therapists have to pay for their Diploma by taking out Student Loans. Study teamed with paying off debt and working a Casual job at the same time means for lots of Therapists they are finding it too hard and unaffordable to study Beauty Therapy any more.
It could also be that they decide to do it and drop out part way through as it just seems to hard for them and it’s not what they thought the industry would be like. Possibly a lot are mums and with beauty being a 7-day job for us they may not be able to get a position in a salon with an understanding boss to help with hours around the children. There is such a big skills gap between what we learn at college, and the rskills Therapists require for the “real world” of Beauty Therapy. I’d love to see a return of the more traditional Beauty Therapy apprenticeships, so Therapists can get real, hands-on-experience in salons. I think they would benefit so much from this. I love the Spa environment and would love to help teach upcoming Therapists to have the same passion I do one day.
Jess Callahan, Clinic Owner, Hush Beauty and Skin.
The training and regulations standards have not caught up with the rapid growth and expansion of, leaving the industry with either low-skilled and poorly trained graduates - or highly intelligent degree educated women with no clear sector in the industry. The training needs of our industry need to be reformed. I’d love to see more definitions and opportunities given to Therapist who advanced their skills into more development. This might help to keep them in clinic who offer these skill sets rather than being lured away to clinics to pay higher and do recognise the higher education. to level 1 beauty adviser, cert 3. level 2 beauty therapist diploma, level 3 advanced therapist, degree with clear definition between all levels students can choose the path they want to follow and study what they actually want to do .
I’d love to see a tiered educational system with a larger mix of not he job training. I think level 1 should be at college, then perhaps diploma from age 18 with year 12 pass and a 2 year practical and uni-level training.
With practical placement employment at each level gives real life experience and career ready staff!
