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INDIANAPOLIS — There are many reasons why people lost or quit their jobs last year, mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One child care expert says said the pandemic shed a lot of light on many problems that companies face in providing quality child care for their workers. Mollie Smith, the executive director of Child Care Answers, spoke to Inside Indiana Business this week.

“Employers know that looking out for their employees is going to help their bottom line,” said Smith. “You lose an employee, there’s all of those overhead costs the when you have to replace them. Training, overtime, all of those things go to the employer. Child care has a huge place in that.”

When schools went to virtual learning at the height of the pandemic shutdowns, that means those children had to stay home. Many of those children were not old enough to stay home on their own, so many parents had to take time off work to be with their kids or hire a babysitter.

These situations had many companies flocking to organizations like Child Care Answers for help.

“Referrals that we did definitely sky-rocketed during the beginning of (the pandemic),” Smith said. “Because we had families that needed child care and their child care had closed so they needed a new spot.”

She said most businesses they deal with have a high employee turnover rate because of a lack of quality child care available to their workers.