Subject area:                      Competitive Strategy, Corporate Level Strategy, Growth Strategy

Region:                                   Los Angeles, USA

Industry:                                Education

Company:                              Aptus Staffing Solutions

Decision Maker:                Cinthya Vodanovich, CEO

Dilemma: Cinthya Vodanovich is the founder and CEO of the Aptus Staffing Solutions, started in 2008, which provides educational staffing services to assist clients in solving labor-related challenges, meeting ever-changing workforce needs with quality staffing. Aptus has two parts to their value-added business model. First, helping K-12 school districts with contract services and permanent placements for hard to fill jobs, such as Special Education Aides. Second, providing career services and training for qualified candidates who may not have considered a career in Education.

The K-12 staffing market focuses on substitute teachers, special education, paraprofessionals, STEM educators, and administrative staffing. In general, the K-12 staffing industry is expected to grow due to teacher shortages (low pay, high stress, and extensive requirements), attrition (burnout and turnover), public policy impacts (such as special education needs), and demand for new skills from educators as school districts manage teacher recruitment, retention, and compliance challenges.

Currently, there are not enough teachers available, especially in special education, which become more difficult after the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), which put pressure on schools to meet specific performance standards, pivoted the focus on core subjects (such as math and reading) and increased scrutiny on teacher credentialing, all of which was tied to resource allocation. The situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic (2020), which significantly disrupted the industry, leading to recruitment and retention challenges. Overall, the talent pool of professionals who meet the qualifications gets smaller and smaller, placing greater and greater burdens on school districts to recruit, manage, and retain talent.