A survey of nearly 2,000 managers and staff in the early years sector cites low pay as the main reason for people leaving.
Two in three managers and owners say issues with recruitment will impact the quality of services.
Darragh O'Connor is the head of strategic organising with SIPTU, who carried out the survey, and says quality of care could be undermined:
"There really is a recruitment and retention crisis in the sector. We have almost 40% of early years educators and lead educators who are looking for a job outside of their profession right now and clearly it's low pay is the driving factor there. That's having a big impact for themselves; they're obviously struggling to make ends meet."
