This chapter examines teachers’ career intentions and their relationship to professional outcomes – their well-being and job satisfaction. The analysis explores four key areas associated with teachers’ intentions to stay in or leave the profession. First, it examines teachers' career intentions and the demands they face. Second, it investigates teachers’ intrinsic motivations, including their sense of social utility and enjoyment of teaching, and how they vary across individuals and schools. Third, it analyses the status and attractiveness of the teaching profession from multiple perspectives – in the eyes of policymakers, in the media, and in society more broadly. Finally, it examines teachers’ employment terms, including job stability, flexibility, and teachers' satisfaction with their working conditions, considering how both personal and contextual factors shape these experiences.
Results from TALIS 2024
Abstract
The risk of teacher attrition is highest among those under age 30 and over 50. In line with the general trend observed among younger employees, teachers (under age 30) are more likely to plan to leave teaching within five years than their colleagues aged 30 to 49. Moreover, among teachers who are not about to retire, the share of those at age 50 and above who plan to leave the profession within five years is higher compared to their peers under age 30 in almost one-third of education systems.
Teachers with low self-efficacy or intrinsic motivation are more likely to intend to leave the profession. Teachers who are not about to retire, nonetheless, intend to leave the profession within five years, are overrepresented in the bottom quartile for self-efficacy, meeting lesson goals, social utility motivation and enjoyment of teaching.
Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ intention to leave teaching. On average across OECD education systems, teachers who report being intimidated or verbally abused by students, or who find maintaining classroom discipline highly stressful, are twice as likely to want to leave teaching within five years.
Teachers’ sense of value matters, and their social status can be improved. Teachers who feel their profession is valued by society are more than 10% less likely to consider leaving teaching within five years, even after accounting for teachers’ intrinsic motivations, contract modalities and satisfaction with employment terms, including salary. The share of teachers who think that teachers’ views are valued by policymakers and in society has increased since 2018 by more than 10 percentage points in Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Shanghai (People’s Republic of China, hereafter “China”).
Younger and novice teachers face more job insecurity. Teachers under 30 and those with five years of teaching experience or less are more likely than their older and more experienced colleagues to be employed on fixed-term or part-time contracts. However, the age- and experience-related gaps in fixed-term contracts have narrowed since 2018 in several education systems.
Salary is just one of many factors shaping teachers’ decisions to leave the profession. Intrinsic motivations – such as social utility of teaching and enjoyment of the work – as well as broader employment conditions, including material benefits, opportunities for career progression, and work schedules, are more consistent predictors of teachers’ career intentions.
Satisfaction with employment terms (excluding salaries) is closely linked to teachers’ likelihood of staying in the profession. Notably, teachers who are satisfied with their employment terms (excluding salary) are almost 40% less likely to consider leaving the profession within the next five years, on average across OECD education systems. The share of teachers who are satisfied with employment terms (excluding salary) varies widely across education systems, ranging from over 80% in some to below 40% in others. Satisfaction is higher among teachers in rural and privately managed schools.
Satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salary) has increased in many education systems since 2018. In Denmark, Iceland and Kazakhstan, the share of teachers being satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) has increased by more than 20 percentage points. Salary satisfaction has risen by the same margin in Bulgaria, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Romania and Shanghai (China).
Given the critical role of teaching, one of the most important responsibilities for education systems is to sustain an adequate supply of motivated and capable teachers. Many education systems are facing teacher shortages (see Chapter 1). They might struggle to attract sufficient numbers of new entrants to the profession, while simultaneously contending with high attrition rates in the context of an ageing workforce and a tight labour market (OECD, 2024[1]; 2024[2]). In contrast, some systems may face challenges related to teacher mobility. Where the teaching profession is relatively rigid, it can be difficult to renew the teacher workforce and ensure it remains aligned with evolving priorities (UNESCO, 2024[3]).
This chapter examines teachers’ career intentions and analyses whether these intentions relate to certain types of schools, teachers and the demands teachers face. It then analyses teachers’ intrinsic motivations to teach and their connection to career plans. The chapter also discusses the status of the teaching profession from multiple perspectives and how this connects with teachers’ career intentions. Finally, it explores teachers’ employment terms and satisfaction with these conditions, investigating how both employment arrangements and satisfaction levels vary based on personal and contextual factors.
The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 asks teachers how many years they intend to continue working as teachers. Analyses of these data pay greater attention to responses from younger teachers, as older teachers might retire soon.
In many fields, younger employees (under age 35) are more likely to look for another job than their older peers (Gallup, 2024[4]), driven by factors like changing societal norms, shifting career goals, and lack of support (OECD, 2025[5]). Similarly, teachers under age 30 are more likely to want to leave teaching in the next five years than their colleagues between the ages of 30 and 49 (Table 7.1).
Two out of ten teachers under age 30 report intending to leave teaching within the next five years, on average across OECD countries and territories with available data (hereafter, “on average”) (Figure 7.1). This is 5 percentage points higher compared to their peers between ages 30 and 49 (Table 7.1). While fewer than one in ten teachers under the age of 30 want to leave the profession within the next five years in 13 education systems participating in TALIS with available data (hereafter, “education systems”), this rises to more than four in ten teachers below the age of 30 who want to leave in Latvia (53%), Lithuania (50%) and Estonia (49%). The results of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where the average age of teachers (ranging from 49 to 51) is among the highest across education systems, warrant particular attention (see Chapter 1 and Table 1.3).
The first years of a teaching career tend to be particularly challenging (Paniagua and Sánchez-Martí, 2018[6]). As highlighted in Chapter 3, teachers under 30 are most often found in diverse classrooms, exposing them to complex challenges early in their careers. Thus, a high share of younger teachers wanting to leave partly reflects early-career self-selection, but it may also signal poor working conditions and inadequate practical preparation that only become apparent after entering the profession.
It is important to note that substitute, emergency or occasional teachers filling in on a temporary basis (i.e. for no longer than six consecutive weeks) are not sampled in TALIS 2024. Early career teachers, who are often overrepresented in this group, tend to face higher risk of attrition (Paniagua and Sánchez-Martí, 2018[6]). As a result, TALIS 2024 may underestimate the risk of teacher attrition among younger teachers.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers under age 30 who express the intention to leave teaching within the next five years
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.1.
On average, the share of teachers below 30 who intend to leave teaching within the next five years has increased by 3 percentage points since 2018 (Table 7.2). While this share has decreased in three education systems (Singapore, South Africa and Sweden) since 2018, it has increased in seven education systems (Alberta [Canada]*, Australia, Croatia, Finland, France, Japan and Norway*) during the same period. The share of teachers between the ages of 30 and 49 who intend to leave teaching within the next five years has decreased by 5 percentage points or more since 2018 in Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (Table 7.3). Conversely, this share has increased by more than 5 percentage points in Australia, Colombia, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Norway*.
* For countries highlighted with an asterisk (*), estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias. See the Reader's Guide and Annex A for more detail.
TALIS 2024 asks teachers how likely they are to leave teaching within five years due to taking up a non-teaching position within education, taking a job outside of education, pursuing further education or training, for personal or family reasons, or retirement. On average, the most common reasons reported by teachers under 30 to plan to leave teaching within the next five years are personal or family reasons (46%), a job outside of education (46%), and further education or training (42%) (Table 7.5). For teachers between the ages of 30 and 49, the most common reasons are personal or family reasons (44%), a job outside of education (39%), and a non-teaching position within education (36%), on average. Teachers at age 50 and above report retirement (55%), personal and family reasons (43%), and a job outside of education (26%) as the most common reasons for planning to leave the profession within five years.
The remainder of this chapter, which explores what characteristics might be related to teachers’ career intentions, focuses on teachers who report that retirement from the work sector is “not at all likely” or “not very likely” to lead them to leave teaching within the next five years. The share of teachers who are not about to retire, nonetheless, intend to leave the profession within five years is 17%, on average, ranging from less than 6% in Korea, Portugal and Viet Nam to over 30% in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Table 7.6).
In most education systems, teachers’ intentions to leave teaching within the next five years do not vary by gender (Table 7.6). Yet, there are exceptions to this general pattern. In Albania, Malta, Morocco, North Macedonia, Romania and Uzbekistan, the share of male teachers who are not about to retire, but plan to leave teaching within the next five years, is over 5 percentage points higher than among female teachers. The reverse pattern is observed in Lithuania, the Netherlands* and the United States.
Among teachers who are “not at all likely” or “not very likely” to retire within the next five years, the share of those aged 50 and above who nonetheless plan to leave the profession within that period is higher than that of their peers under age 30 in nearly one-third of education systems (Table 7.6). In contrast, in Bahrain, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal and Singapore, younger teachers are more likely to intend to leave teaching. Together with the findings on differences in career intentions between teachers under age 30 and those aged 30 to 49, these results suggest that the risk of teacher attrition is highest among those under age 30 and over 50.
In Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the share of teachers under age 30 in primary education who wish to leave teaching within five years is more than 5 percentage points higher than among teachers between the ages of 30 and 49 (Table 7.1). Conversely, similar to lower secondary education, in Morocco, teachers under age 30 in primary education tend to be less likely to want to leave teaching in the next five years than their colleagues between ages 30 and 49.
Since 2018, the share of teachers below 30 who intend to leave teaching within the next five years has increased by more than 5 percentage points in Australiaa (8 percentage points) and Japan (14 percentage points) in primary education, while it has decreased in the United Arab Emirates by 15 percentage points in upper secondary education (Table 7.2).
The share of primary teachers between the ages of 30 and 49 who plan to leave teaching within the next five years has increased by 7 percentage points since 2018 in Australiaa, France and Japan (Table 7.3). In the United Arab Emirates, the share of teachers between the ages of 30 and 49 who intend to leave teaching within the next five years has decreased by 10 percentage points since 2018 in both primary and upper secondary education.
Except for Japan, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, primary teachers who are not about to retire and report high self-efficacy are equally likely to report their intention to leave the profession within five years as their colleagues with low self-efficacy (Table 7.10).
Note: ª Estimates for TALIS 2018 and the change between TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Teachers in certain school contexts may face greater challenges, such as limited resources or high workloads. Understanding how these contexts might relate to teachers’ career intentions can support targeted efforts to provide resources and sustain the profession.
Teachers’ career intentions do not tend to vary by school context. Yet, the share of teachers who are not about to retire but intend to leave teaching within five years is higher in urban schools than in rural schools in ten education systems, and on average (Table 7.7). In Austria, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Türkiye, this difference is over 5 percentage points.
Research suggests that teachers who are satisfied with their jobs tend to stay in the profession (Canrinus et al., 2011[7]; Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond, 2017[8]; Ingersoll, 2001[9]; Whipp and Geronime, 2015[10]). Regression analyses using TALIS 2024 data show that teachers who, all in all, are satisfied with their jobs are five times less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years than their colleagues who are not satisfied with their jobs, on average, while accounting for teacher characteristics (e.g. teachers’ gender, age and teaching experience [hereafter “teacher characteristics”]) and school characteristics (e.g. school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language(s) of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs [hereafter “school characteristics”]) (Table 7.8). These findings hold even after accounting for teacher well-being (Table 7.9).
TALIS 2024 data also show that, on average, teachers who are not about to retire but intend to leave the profession within five years are overrepresented in the bottom quartile for self-efficacy and meeting lesson goals compared to those in the top quartile (Tables 7.10 and 7.11).
Demands on teachers and career intentions
Job demands include all physical, social, or organisational aspects of a job that require sustained effort and are linked to physiological and psychological costs (Demerouti et al., 2001[11]). Among others, TALIS identifies the following as demands that teachers face: 1) workload; 2) adapting teaching to diverse learning needs; 3) maintaining discipline; 4) accountability; and 5) keeping up with reforms. Chapter 2 examined the extent to which demands on teachers are related to their self-reported ability to fulfil lesson aims, as well as their well-being and job satisfaction. Chapter 3 explored how teachers experienced demands across and within education systems. This section explores how much they relate to teachers’ career intentions.
Regression analyses indicate that discipline and behaviour issues might be more closely associated with teachers’ intention to leave teaching than many other demands, such as workload, adapting teaching to diverse learning needs, accountability and keeping up with reforms (Figure 7.2). On average, teachers who report being intimidated or verbally abused by students, or who consider maintaining classroom discipline as sources of stress “quite a bit” or “a lot” are twice as likely to wish to leave teaching within five years. These relationships hold after accounting for teacher and school characteristics.
Change in the likelihood of lower secondary teachers reporting that they intend to leave the profession within the next five years1 associated with encountering the following as sources of stress “quite a bit” or “a lot” at work2,3
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Statistically significant coefficients are highlighted with filled circles (see Annex B). Filled circles above 1 indicate a positive association between teachers’ intention to leave the profession and sources of stress, while those below 1 reflect a negative relationship.
The analysis is restricted to teachers who report that retirement from work sector is “not at all likely” or “not very likely” to lead them to leave teaching within the next five years.
1. Binary variable: the reference category refers to teachers reporting that they want to continue working as a teacher for more than five years.
2. Binary variables: the reference category refers to “not at all” and “to some extent”.
3. Results based on 13 separate binary logistic regressions. An odds ratio indicates the degree to which an explanatory variable is associated with a categorical outcome variable. An odds ratio below 1 denotes a negative association; an odds ratio above 1 indicates a positive association; and an odds ratio of 1 means that there is no association. After controlling for teacher (i.e. gender, age and years of teaching experience) and school characteristics (i.e. school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language[s] of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs).
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.12.
Intrinsic motivation refers to the drive to engage in an activity because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable, rather than for some separable outcome like a reward or external pressure. Intrinsic motivation can be considered a personal resource that can reduce the impact of job demands, boost engagement, and support positive professional outcomes. Understanding teachers’ motivations to teach can help inform policies on attracting, recruiting and retaining teachers (OECD, 2025[12]).
TALIS 2024 categorises intrinsic motivation into feelings of social utility and enjoyment of teaching. The survey measures feelings of social utility by asking how important the following factors are: “Teaching allows me to influence the next generation”; “Teaching allows me to work against social disadvantage”; and “Teaching makes a worthwhile social contribution”. The survey measures enjoyment of teaching by asking how much teachers agree that: they like the subject they teach; they often feel happy while they teach; and the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction.
This section examines the extent to which teachers’ intrinsic motivations vary according to teacher and school characteristics. Additionally, it investigates the links between teachers’ intrinsic motivations and their intention to continue teaching.
Social utility
Over 60% of teachers report that influencing the next generation and making worthwhile social contribution are factors of “high importance” to them as teachers, on average (Figure 7.3). While in Bahrain, Brazil, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, over four out of five teachers rate influencing the next generation as highly important, in Bulgaria, Finland, the French Community of Belgium, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands* and Norway*, less than half of the teachers report the same (Table 7.13).
The share of female teachers reporting social utility as a highly important factor to teach tends to be higher compared to male teachers (Table 7.13). Yet, in Japan and Shanghai (China), male teachers are more likely to report that influencing the next generation is of high importance.
Influencing the next generation is more often mentioned as a highly important factor to teach by teachers under age 30 compared to their colleagues aged 50 and above in over one-fourth of education systems, and on average (Table 7.14). In contrast, in Albania, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Shanghai (China) and the United States, older teachers are more likely to report that influencing the next generation is highly important.
The share of teachers who report that working against social disadvantage is of “high importance” to them is 6 percentage points higher among those teachers who work in disadvantaged schools, on average (Table 7.16). In Australia and the United States, this difference is around 20 percentage points. This suggests that teachers who value working against social disadvantage may actively seek positions in disadvantaged schools, reflecting a strong sense of purpose. Alternatively, teaching in such environments may heighten awareness of inequality, strengthening teachers' commitment to addressing it. The only exception to the general pattern is Costa Rica, where teachers in advantaged schools are more likely to rate working against social disadvantage as highly important.
Social utility motivation to teach is negatively associated with the intention to leave the teaching profession within the next five years in most education systems, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics (Table 7.17). After accounting for enjoyment of teaching, another intrinsic motivator, the relationship between social utility motivation and career intentions remains significant in less than half of education systems.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who report that the following factors are of “high importance” to them as a teacher
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.13.
TALIS 2024 data also show that teachers who are in the top quartile for social utility motivation and are not about to retire are less likely to plan to leave the profession within five years (Table 7.19). On average, among teachers not approaching retirement, the share planning to leave teaching within five years is 8 percentage points lower among those in the top quartile of social utility motivation compared to those in the bottom quartile.
Enjoyment of teaching
Almost all teachers in all education systems report teaching with enthusiasm in general, feeling happy while teaching and liking the subject(s) they teach (Table 7.20). In addition, 90% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement that the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction, on average (Table 7.20). However, only around 75% of teachers report this in France, Morocco and Türkiye.
Compared to their colleagues under age 30, teachers at age 50 and above are more likely to report that the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction (Table 7.21). Older teachers may find greater satisfaction in teaching challenges due to accumulated experience and confidence in handling complex situations. Older teachers who are still in the profession might also be a self-selecting population; those who do not enjoy teaching may have left already.
In almost all education systems, the joy of teaching is negatively associated with the intention to leave the teaching profession within the next five years, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics, social utility motivations, contract modalities and satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salaries) (Table 7.22). On average, the share of teachers (among those who are not about to retire) who intend to leave teaching in the next five years is 18 percentage points lower in the upper quartile of teaching enjoyment compared to the bottom quartile (Table 7.23).
High-performing education systems often have many teachers who feel valued, and there is a positive link between the profession’s societal prestige and student achievement (Dolton et al., 2018[13]; Schleicher, 2018[14]). Higher social status of the teaching profession can help attract high-calibre candidates to the profession and retain experienced teachers, serving as a key extrinsic motivator. Han (2018[15]) finds that a 1% rise in teachers who feel teaching is valued is associated with a 1% increase in the odds that students aspire to become teachers.
In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, greater public appreciation for teachers, and shifts in teaching practices, teachers may now feel more valued. However, long-term effects on the profession's perceived value remain unclear, making it important for TALIS 2024 to monitor these trends across countries (OECD, 2025[12]).
International performance benchmarks, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), can also shape public perceptions of the teaching profession. Strong results may enhance teachers’ sense of societal appreciation, while poor outcomes can shift blame onto teachers (Spruyt et al., 2021[16]).
In the eyes of policymakers
The share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers’ views are valued by policymakers in their country/region, ranges from over eight in ten in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, to less than one in ten in Croatia, Estonia, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain (Table 7.24).
Teachers’ perceptions of the value policymakers place on the profession are closely related to their satisfaction with salaries. On average, teachers who are satisfied with their salaries tend to be over three times more likely to report that teachers’ views are valued by policymakers (Table 7.25). This holds after accounting for teacher and school characteristics, contract modalities and satisfaction with the terms of employment (barring salaries).
The share of teachers who think that policymakers value their views has increased since 2018 in around half of education systems (Figure 7.4). While this increase has been over 10 percentage points in ten education systems (Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Iceland, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands*, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai [China], the Slovak Republic and the United Arab Emirates), three education systems (Alberta [Canada]*, Estonia and Norway*) show a decrease of similar magnitude since 2018.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers’ views are valued by policymakers
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 7.26.
Teachers who agree that teachers' views are valued by policymakers are around 35% less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years, on average, after controlling for teacher and school characteristics (Table 7.27). After accounting for teachers’ intrinsic motivations, contract modalities and satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salaries), the relationship remains significant in only eight education systems (Table 7.27).
In the media
Media coverage plays a key role in shaping public attitudes toward teaching and teachers (Alhamdan et al., 2014[17]; Arnold and Rahimi, 2024[18]). Positive portrayals of teachers can boost the profession's prestige and respect, while negative coverage can undermine it. Evidence leans towards the somewhat negative portrayal of teachers by the media (Oxley and Kim, 2023[19]; Shine, 2020[20]).
While over eight in ten teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in the media in their country/region in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, less than one in ten teachers report the same in the French Community of Belgium, Croatia, France, Japan and Poland (Table 7.24).
The share of teachers reporting that teachers are valued in the media has increased since 2018 in over half of education systems (Table 7.26). In Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia, the increase has been over 20 percentage points. Conversely, since 2018, the share of teachers who feel valued in the media has declined in seven education systems, notably by 23 percentage points in Alberta (Canada)* and 14 percentage points in the United States.
By boosting the profession's prestige, positive media coverage of teachers can play a role in addressing teacher retention. Teachers who report that teachers are valued in the media are 25% less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years, on average, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics (Table 7.28). However, this relationship is no longer statistically significant on average once teachers’ intrinsic motivations, contract modalities and satisfaction with terms of employment (including the salary) are controlled for.
In society
Teachers’ views on the profession’s societal value closely align with how they perceive media representation and policymakers’ regard for their opinions. While over eight in ten teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society, in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, less than one in ten teachers report the same in the French Community of Belgium, Croatia, France, Hungary, Portugal, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia (Table 7.24).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that the teaching profession is valued by society
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 7.29.
In around one-third of education systems, the share of teachers who think the teaching profession is valued in society has increased since 2018 (Figure 7.5). This increase is over 10 percentage points in Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Shanghai (China). In contrast, the share of teachers who report that the teaching profession is valued in society has decreased by more than 10 percentage points since 2018 in Alberta (Canada)*, Australia, Finland, Korea and Norway*.
Teachers feeling valued in society matters not only for attracting high-calibre candidates to the profession, but also for retaining teachers. Teachers who agree that their profession is valued in society are more than 10% less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years, on average, after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivation, contract modalities and satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salary) (Table 7.30). These results indicate that elevating the status of teaching can help in sustaining the profession.
Attractiveness of the profession
TALIS considers choosing to teach as a first career choice as a signal of how attractive the profession is.1 Over six in ten novice teachers (with up to five years of teaching experience) report that teaching was their first choice as a career, on average (Table 7.31). While more than nine in ten novice teachers report teaching as their first career choice in Saudi Arabia, Shanghai (China) and Viet Nam, fewer than 50% of teachers do so in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic and Spain.
Teachers’ perception about their social status do not tend to vary between primary and lower secondary education. However, in Korea, the share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society is 16 percentage points higher in lower secondary education than in primary education (Table 7.24). In contrast, in the Netherlands*, the share of teachers who believe teachers are valued by society is 8 percentage points higher in primary education than in lower secondary education.
The share of teachers in primary education who think the teaching profession is valued in society has increased since 2018 in the Netherlands* and the United Arab Emirates, while it has decreased in Australiaa, the Flemish Community of Belgium*, Japan and Korea (Table 7.29).
The share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society tends to be higher in upper secondary education than in lower secondary education (Table 7.24). This difference is particularly pronounced in Denmark (20 percentage points).
Since 2018, the share of teachers in upper secondary education who believe the profession is valued by society has risen by 8 percentage points in the United Arab Emirates and 19 percentage points in Denmark (Table 7.29).
On average, novice teachers are more likely to report that teaching was their first choice as a career in primary education than in lower secondary education. In Australia, the Flemish Community of Belgium*, Korea, Slovenia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, the share of novice teachers who report teaching as their first career choice is over 5 percentage points higher in primary education than in lower secondary education (Table 7.31).
Since 2018, the share of novice teachers in primary education who report that teaching was their first career choice has increased in Korea and the United Arab Emirates, while it has decreased in the Flemish Community of Belgium* (Table 7.32).
In Croatia, Denmark, the Flemish Community of Belgium and Slovenia, the share of novice teachers who report teaching as their first career choice is over 10 percentage points higher in lower secondary education than in upper secondary education (Table 7.31). These results may reflect the larger proportion of vocational teachers in upper secondary education, who often teach alongside careers in their own fields.
In the United Arab Emirates, the share of novice teachers in upper secondary education who report that teaching was their first career choice has increased by 11 percentage points since 2018 (Table 7.32).
Note: ª Estimates for TALIS 2018 and the change between TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers whose first career choice was teaching are less likely to intend to leave the profession. On average, novice teachers for whom teaching was a first career choice are 40% less likely to plan to leave the profession within five years (Table 7.34). These results hold after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivation, contract modalities and satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salary).
The share of novice teachers who report that teaching was their first choice as a career has increased in nine education systems since 2018 (Figure 7.6). The increase was more than 10 percentage points in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Sweden. In South Africa, students pursuing teaching degrees in priority areas are offered full-cost bursaries.2 Yet, in seven education systems, the reverse pattern is observed. Notably, in Latvia and Lithuania, the share of novice teachers who report that teaching was their first career choice has decreased by 26 and 29 percentage points, respectively.
Percentage of novice lower secondary teachers who report that teaching was their first career choice
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 7.32.
Examining the variation in the share of first-career teachers across age cohorts can also shed light on the evolution of the profession’s attractiveness. In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the share of teachers at the age of 50 and above who report that teaching was their first career choice is more than 20 percentage points higher than among teachers under the age of 30 (Table 7.33). These systems face an ageing teacher population, a high risk of attrition among teachers under 30 and decreasing attractiveness of the profession. While competitive salaries help attract prospective teachers, education systems are also investing in broader strategies to elevate the profession’s status and appeal (Box 7.3).
Estonia
Estonia promotes the teaching profession through both innovative recruitment and public recognition. The Noored Kooli (Youth to School) programme, which has been in place since 2006, attracts top university graduates to teach for two years while receiving leadership and pedagogical training. Popular and competitive, the programme fosters future education leaders both inside and outside schools. The annual Teacher of the Year Gala also boosts the profession’s public visibility and prestige.
French Community of Belgium
The “Teaching, More than a Profession” campaign aims to deconstruct preconceived ideas about teaching and highlight the positive impact that teachers have on the lives of their students. It presents teaching as an enriching profession, carrying a deep meaning and offering many opportunities for personal and professional development.
Flemish Community of Belgium
The “Teaching Is Giving Everything” campaign facilitates information and shares stories that aim to elevate and enhance the status of the teaching profession. The campaign highlights the many benefits of teaching, including the satisfaction in witnessing students’ growth and achievements, as well as attractive employment conditions, such as competitive salaries, Internet allowances, vacation periods, and, if permanently employed, job security and government pensions.
Source: OECD (2024[1]), Education Policy Outlook 2024: Reshaping Teaching into a Thriving Profession from ABCs to AI, https://doi.org/10.1787/dd5140e4-en; UNESCO (2024[3]), Global Report on Teachers: Addressing Teacher Shortages and Transforming the Profession, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388832.
Good working conditions are positively associated with health, well-being, skills development and productivity (Cazes, Hijzen and Saint-Martin, 2015[21]; Eurofound and International Labour Organization, 2019[22]). Employment terms, such as remuneration and contractual arrangements, are part of a broad set of work-related characteristics that determine the quality of a job. Favourable employment terms can serve as an extrinsic motivator, enhancing professional outcomes by mitigating the negative effects of job demands and increasing employee engagement.
This section examines teachers’ employment terms, their satisfaction with these terms and the extent to which these terms have evolved in recent years. It also explores the associations between teachers’ employment terms and their career intentions. In addition, this section investigates the extent to which teachers’ satisfaction with their employment terms vary by personal and contextual factors.
Stability
Like most employees, the majority of teachers want job security. An important component of teachers’ job security is their contract modality. Permanent contracts are not limited in duration, whereas fixed-term contracts have a specified duration. Fixed-term employment involves some degree of insecurity and unpredictability, which may cause strain and prevent some employees from functioning optimally in their work environment (de Cuyper, de Witte and Van Emmerik, 2011[23]). On the other hand, fixed-term contracts make it easier for schools and education authorities to respond to changes in their organisational and teaching needs (Bertoni et al., 2018[24]; Bruns, Filmer and Patrinos, 2011[25]).
TALIS 2024 measures job stability by asking teachers whether they hold permanent or fixed-term contracts. To determine the importance of job stability for teachers, the survey asks how important “teaching is a secure job” is to them. Four out of five teachers have a permanent contract, on average (Figure 7.7). The share of teachers with a permanent contract is, however, below three out of five in Shanghai (China) (33%), the United Arab Emirates (34%), Bahrain (55%) and Costa Rica (56%).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Permanent employment refers to an ongoing contract with no fixed endpoint before the age of retirement.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.35.
In most education systems, fixed-term contracts with a duration of one year or less are more prevalent than fixed-term contracts with a duration of more than one year (Figure 7.7). On average, 6% of teachers have fixed-term contracts with a duration of more than one year, and 14% have a fixed-term contract of one year or less. While longer fixed-term contracts can offer temporary stability, they may also delay access to permanent positions, leaving teachers in prolonged job insecurity.
The share of teachers with a permanent contract has evolved differently across education systems since 2018 (Table 7.36). In the Flemish Community of Belgium, Chile and New Zealand*, the share of teachers with a permanent contract has increased by more than 5 percentage points since 2018. In the Flemish Community, the period for teachers to obtain a permanent contract was legally shortened in 2022. In contrast, the share of teachers with a permanent contract has decreased by over 5 percentage points in Brazil, Estonia, Korea, Portugal,3 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In Portugal, around 30% of teachers on permanent contracts were recruited under the Portuguese Labour Code, which limits successive temporary contracts, while around 5 600 were hired through dynamic recruitment processes. Their salaries have been adjusted to reflect their length of service.4
The share of teachers employed on a fixed-term contract with a duration of more than one year has increased by more than 5 percentage points since 2018 in Brazil, Korea and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the share of fixed-term contracts with a duration of one year or less has increased by the same magnitude in the French Community of Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, Korea and Saudi Arabia.
Male teachers are more likely to be employed on fixed-term contracts. The share of male teachers on fixed-term contracts is higher compared to female teachers in almost one-third of education systems, and on average (Table 7.37). This difference ranges from 13 to 16 percentage points in Bahrain, Estonia, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers employed on fixed-term contracts
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers refer to those with up to five years of teaching experience. Experienced teachers refer to those with more than ten years of teaching experience.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.37.
The share of teachers employed on a fixed-term contract is considerably higher among younger teachers (under age 30) and novice teachers (those with up to five years of teaching experience) compared to their older colleagues (those aged 50 and above) and more experienced colleagues (those with more than ten years of teaching experience) (Figure 7.8). Yet, differences in teachers’ employment status by age and teaching experience have been decreasing in several education systems, including Australia, Austria, the Flemish Community of Belgium, Italy, Japan, Spain and Sweden (Tables 7.38 and 7.39). Novice teachers often start on fixed-term contracts as a trial period, which gives schools opportunities to evaluate them before giving them a permanent contract (OECD, 2019[26]). In turn, these contracts also give novice teachers the opportunity to evaluate the school as a workplace and teaching as a profession in general.
Half of teachers report that job security is of “high importance” to them as teachers, on average (Table 7.13). In Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, over four in five teachers consider job security highly important. In contrast, in Bulgaria, Czechia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands* and Portugal, less than two in five teachers do so. In over half of education systems, female teaches are more likely than male teachers to report job security as highly important (Table 7.13), while second-career teachers are less likely compared to other teachers to do so in almost one-fourth of education systems (Table 7.15).
On average, the share of teachers who are employed on a fixed-term contract while reporting job security as highly important (hereafter, “involuntary fixed-term contract”) is 9%, ranging from less than 3% in Denmark and Latvia to more than 40% in Shanghai (China) and the United Arab Emirates (Table 7.41). In most education systems, being employed on a fixed-term contract involuntarily is not associated with career intentions (Table 7.42). This relationship holds after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivations, and their satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salaries). However, in Azerbaijan, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Korea and Romania, teachers being employed on a fixed-term contract involuntarily are more likely to intend to leave teaching within the next five years.
Flexibility
Job flexibility refers to employees’ ability to determine when and how much to work. Formal employment flexibility is often expressed as part-time arrangements, which have decreased slightly since 2019 in OECD countries (OECD, 2024[27]; 2017[28]). Part-time work can support work-life balance and well-being, but may limit career progression and pension benefits (OECD, 2019[29]; 2017[28]; 2010[30]). Part-time work may be either voluntary or involuntary, with the latter often reflecting reduced hours or underreported workload.
TALIS 2024 measures job flexibility by asking teachers whether they work full-time (more than 90% of full-time hours) or part-time (71-90% of full-time hours, 50-70% of full-time hours, or less than 50% of full-time hours). To assess the importance of job flexibility for teachers, the survey asks teachers how important “working hours fit with my responsibilities” and “teaching has commitment flexibility” are to them.
Approximately 20% of teachers are employed part-time (working up to 90% of full-time hours), on average (Figure 7.9). Yet, more than 60% of teachers work part-time in Brazil and the Netherlands*. Teachers employed part-time are much more likely to work in multiple schools compared to their colleagues working full-time (Table 7.44).
The change in the share of teachers employed part-time since 2018 varies across education systems (Table 7.46). In Czechia, the Netherlands*, Shanghai (China) and Türkiye, the share of teachers employed part-time has increased by 5 percentage points or more since 2018. Conversely, in Chile, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Viet Nam, the share of teachers employed part-time has decreased by the same degree since 2018.
The prevalence of part-time work varies by gender, with different patterns observed across education systems (Table 7.47). In 15 education systems, male teachers are more likely to be employed part-time, with the largest differences observed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and the Slovak Republic. In another 14 education systems, female teachers are more likely to be employed part-time. The difference in favour of female teachers is above 10 percentage points in Australia, Austria, the Flemish Community of Belgium, the Netherlands*, New Zealand* and Saudi Arabia. The Netherlands* is not only the education system with the highest share of part-time work among female teachers (76%), but part-time work among male teachers has also increased considerably since 2018 (from 36% to 54%) (Table 7.48).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers working part-time
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Part-time teachers refer to those who work up to 90% of full-time hours.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.47.
Novice teachers are more likely to be employed part-time than their more experienced colleagues, in about two-thirds of education systems, as well as on average (Table 7.47). Similarly, younger teachers are more likely to work part-time than older colleagues in around half of education systems, and on average. The reverse pattern is observed in Australia, the Flemish Community of Belgium and Singapore. These results may reflect that young people increasingly value work-life balance and flexible or reduced working hours (OECD, 2025[5]). It also may reflect the fact that newer members of the profession have difficulty securing full-time employment. Among teachers under age 30, part-time work has increased in five education systems (Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Shanghai [China] and Türkiye), while it has decreased in nine education systems (Table 7.49).
Around 50% of teachers report that working hours that fit with family responsibilities is of “high importance” to them, on average (Table 7.13). Convenient working hours regarding family responsibilities are reported as an important factor by at least seven in ten teachers in Israel and Latvia. On average, about four out of ten teachers report that teaching’s commitment flexibility (e.g. travel, part-time work, family commitments) is of high importance, ranging from around two in ten in Bulgaria and Italy to more than six in ten in Israel and Latvia.
The importance of job flexibility tends to vary by age. Teachers under age 30 are more likely to report convenient working hours and commitment flexibility as important factors (Table 7.14). These findings reflect similar differences observed among generations in the general population (OECD, 2025[5]).
The share of teachers working part-time even though not considering job flexibility as highly important5 (hereafter, “involuntary part-time work”) is 7% on average, ranging from less than 1% in Bahrain, Korea, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, to 33% in the Netherlands* (Table 7.50). In most education systems, involuntary part-time work is not associated with teachers’ career intentions (Table 7.51). Yet, in some education systems, such as Colombia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Norway*, teachers working part-time involuntarily are more likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years than their colleagues working full-time and those working part-time voluntarily (i.e. considering job flexibility as highly important). This holds after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivations and satisfaction with the terms of employment (including salaries). Teachers in involuntary part-time roles may feel undervalued or frustrated by reduced hours and limited income, contributing to a higher desire to leave.
Satisfaction with the terms of employment
Non-salary terms
TALIS 2024 asks teachers whether they are satisfied with their terms of employment, apart from salary, including benefits, work schedule and other aspects of their employment. Around two in three teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries), on average (Table 7.52). While in Austria, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czechia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Uzbekistan, at least 80% of teachers are satisfied with their terms of employment (excluding salaries), fewer than 40% report the same in Japan and Portugal.
Teachers' satisfaction with their terms of employment (barring salaries) has increased in 19 education systems since 2018 (Figure 7.10). In Chile, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands*, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai (China) and Spain, the share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) has increased by 10 percentage points or more since 2018. In contrast, in 13 education systems, satisfaction with employment terms (excluding salaries) has decreased since 2018. In France, the share of teachers who are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) has decreased by 21 percentage points.
In most education systems, teachers’ satisfaction with their employment terms (barring salaries) does not vary by contract duration (Table 7.55). Regression analyses also show that, in most education systems, among teachers who value job security highly, satisfaction with employment terms (barring salaries) is not associated with contract duration, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics (Table 7.58). Teachers being employed on fixed-term contracts involuntarily may be compensated for job insecurity through benefits, such as support for professional development, reimbursements, materials or salary increases. Similarly, in the majority of education systems, among teachers who do not consider job flexibility highly important, satisfaction with employment terms (barring salaries) does not vary by part-time/full-time status (Tables 7.56 and 7.59). Teachers who are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) tend to be more satisfied with their jobs and almost 40% less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years, on average, after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivations, contract modalities and satisfaction with salary (Tables 7.60 and 7.61). These results suggest that satisfaction with the terms of employment (barring salaries) is a consistent predictor of job satisfaction and career intentions across education systems.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Terms of employment refer to the terms of teaching contracts or employment, for example, benefits and work schedule, excluding salary.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 7.54.
Salary
Remuneration plays an important role in attracting and retaining teachers by ensuring their work is financially sustainable and competitive with other professions (OECD, 2024[1]; OECD, 2024[2]; Park and Byun, 2015[31]; UNESCO, 2024[3]). While some studies suggest that teachers’ relative salaries are associated with teaching quality and student outcomes (Dolton and Marcenaro-Gutierrez, 2011[32]; Hanushek, Piopiunik and Wiederhold, 2014[33]), others find no clear connection between teacher pay and student performance (Akiba et al., 2012[34]). Yet, as teachers’ salaries represent the largest share of the current expenditure on education within education systems (OECD, 2023[35]), pay rises have been modest in many education systems.
TALIS 2024 does not collect data about the level of teachers’ salaries. However, data from Education at a Glance (OECD, 2024[2]) show that statutory salaries of teachers at the lower secondary level increased by 4% in real terms between 2015 and 2023. According to the latest data available, the actual salaries of full-time teachers working in publicly managed schools at the lower secondary level are 84% of the earnings of tertiary-educated workers, on average across OECD countries, ranging from 49% in Hungary to 151% in Costa Rica (OECD, 2024[2]).
Based on responses of lower secondary teachers working full-time in publicly managed schools and system-level data on teacher salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Annual average teacher salaries (including bonuses and allowances) of 25-64 year-old full-time teachers working in public schools in lower secondary general programmes.
The system-level linear correlation coefficient (r) between the relative earnings and teachers’ salary satisfaction can be calculated by taking the square root of the R-Squared (R2) highlighted on the figure.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Tables 7.65 and 7.62.
TALIS 2024 collects information on teachers’ satisfaction with their salaries by asking them about their level of agreement on whether they are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work. Around two in five teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salaries, on average (Table 7.63). In Austria, the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands*, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, more than three in five teachers are satisfied with their salaries, while in Iceland, Malta, Portugal and Serbia, less than one in five teachers report the same.
Based on 23 education systems with available data, relative earnings matter for teachers’ salary satisfaction only up to a point (Figure 7.11). Across 21 education systems where the ratio of teachers’ salaries to the earnings of tertiary-educated workers is at or below 1, the system-level correlation between relative salaries and salary satisfaction is relatively strong (the linear correlation coefficient is r=.43). However, when Cost Rica and Portugal – where the relative salary ratio ranging from 1.51 to 1.25 – are included, the correlation at the system level becomes negligible (r=-.01).
The share of teachers who are satisfied with their salaries has increased in 23 education systems since 2018 (Figure 7.12). The increase has been over 15 percentage points in Bulgaria, Colombia, Czechia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands*, New Zealand*, Romania and Shanghai (China). Education systems often use a mix of strategies to improve teacher pay, including raising starting salaries, restructuring pay scales and linking pay to performance or responsibilities (Box 7.4). Based on data from Education at a Glance (OECD, 2024[2]), in Colombia, Czechia, Lithuania and New Zealand*, teachers’ statutory salaries increased between 2015 and 2023 by 10% to 72% in real terms. In the Netherlands*, where statutory salaries are above the OECD average, salaries kept their value during the same period. In Kazakhstan, teacher salaries doubled between 2020 and 2024 (Box 7.4). On the contrary, the share of teachers who report being satisfied with their pay has decreased since 2018 in nine education systems, and by more than 15 percentage points in Alberta (Canada)*, Korea and Singapore.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 7.67.
Austria
Austria overhauled its teacher pay structure with a 2013 law that was implemented fully by 2019. The reform ended automatic biennial increments and instead introduced higher starting salaries as well as a simplified pay scale with seven steps. Upper-tier earnings were also lowered. The law also raised qualification requirements and slightly increased workloads, particularly in federal schools.
Brazil
Since 2025, Brazil has offered exclusive benefits to teachers through partnerships with public banks and other ministries. These include perks such as credit cards with no annual fee, hotel discounts, and special conditions for purchasing products and equipment.
In addition, a scholarship is available to undergraduate teaching students who score at least 650 points on the national university entrance exam. The scholarship totals BRL 1 050 (Brazilian reals) (equal to approximately USD 190.50 [US dollars]) per month, with BRL 700 (USD 127) available immediately and BRL 350 (USD 63.50) placed in a savings account, accessible once the teaching student joins the public school system as a teacher within five years of graduating.
Kazakhstan
At the end of 2019, Kazakhstan introduced a comprehensive reform aimed at enhancing the social and professional status of teachers. The reform was designed to address long-standing challenges, such as low prestige, high turnover and difficulties in attracting talent, particularly in rural areas.
Central to this reform was a significant increase in teachers’ salaries, aimed at enhancing the profession’s attractiveness and addressing issues such as low prestige and high turnover. Salaries began rising with a 25% increase in January 2020 and doubled over four years. The policy affected over 500 000 educators nationwide.
Romania
In 2024, Romania increased teacher salaries by an average of 25%, with beginner teachers receiving up to 31.7% more. The focus on entry-level pay supports efforts to attract qualified candidates, following stricter entry requirements for teacher training.
Despite intentions to link performance, career progression, and pay, salaries largely remain seniority-based. Merit bonuses are limited and typically tied to raw student test scores, rather than broader measures of teaching effectiveness or contextualised outcomes.
Romania also plans to replace the 20% salary top-up for teachers in disadvantaged or remote areas with a relocation bonus equal to five gross minimum salaries. Additionally, commuting costs will be covered for teachers working outside their local area.
Source: MEC (n.d.[36]), Mais Professores, https://www.gov.br/mec/pt-br/mais-professores; OECD (2024[37]), “Reforming school education in Romania: Strengthening governance, evaluation and support systems”, https://doi.org/10.1787/5333f031-en; Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2019[38]), On the Status of a Teacher, https://adilet.zan.kz/eng/docs/Z1900000293; The Astana Times (2019[39]), Kazakh President to increase teachers’ salaries twofold to improve national education quality, https://astanatimes.com/2019/08/kazakh-president-to-increase-teachers-salaries-twofold-to-improve-national-education-quality/.
Regression analyses suggest that, in terms of job satisfaction, non-salary aspects of employment may matter more than salary (Tables 7.60 and 7.68). On average, satisfaction with non-salary employment terms is associated with a 0.52 standard deviation increase in the scale of teacher job satisfaction, compared to a 0.36 standard deviation increase associated with salary satisfaction – after controlling for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivations, and contract modalities. At the system-level, a moderate correlation is observed between actual salaries and job satisfaction (the linear correlation coefficient between these two variables is r=.33) (Figure 7.13).
Based on job satisfaction1 of lower secondary teachers working in publicly managed schools and system-level data on teachers’ average actual salaries2,3
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
1. Standardised scale scores with a standard deviation of 2 and a mean of 10. For more information on the scales, see Annex B.
2. Annual average salaries (including bonuses and allowances) of 25-64 year-old teachers in equivalent USD, converted using purchasing power parities (PPPs) for private consumption.
3. The system-level linear correlation coefficient (r) between the relative earnings and teachers’ salary satisfaction can be calculated by taking the square root of the R-Squared (R2) highlighted on the figure.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Tables 7.69 and 7.62.
Teachers who are satisfied with their salaries are 25% less likely to want to leave teaching within the next five years, on average, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics, teachers’ intrinsic motivations and contract modalities (Figure 7.14). After holding satisfaction with other terms of employment (barring salaries) constant, the negative association remains statistically significant in only about one-fifth of education systems.
These findings suggest that salary is just one of many factors related to teachers’ job satisfaction and their decisions to leave the profession. Intrinsic motivations – such as social utility of teaching and enjoyment of the work – as well as other employment conditions, including material benefits, opportunities for career progression, and work schedules, are more consistent predictors of teachers’ career intentions.
Change in the likelihood of lower secondary teachers reporting that they intend to leave the profession within the next five years1 associated with teachers “agree[ing]” or “strongly agree[ing]” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment2,3
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Statistically significant coefficients are highlighted with filled circles (see Annex B). Filled circles above 1 indicate a positive association between teachers’ intention to leave the profession and sources of stress, while those below 1 reflect a negative relationship. The analysis is restricted to teachers who report that retirement from the work sector is “not at all likely” or “not very likely” to lead them to leave teaching within the next five years.
1. Binary variable: the reference category refers to teachers reporting that they want to continue working as a teacher for more than five years.
2. Binary variables: the reference category refers to “disagree” and “strongly disagree”.
3. Results based on two separate binary logistic regressions. An odds ratio indicates the degree to which an explanatory variable is associated with a categorical outcome variable. An odds ratio below 1 denotes a negative association; an odds ratio above 1 indicates a positive association; and an odds ratio of 1 means that there is no association. After controlling for teacher (i.e. gender, age and years of teaching experience) and school characteristics (i.e. school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language(s) of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs), as well as teachers’ intrinsic motivations and contract modalities.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Tables 7.70 and 7.61.
Variation in satisfaction with the terms of employment
Analysing differences in teachers’ satisfaction with their employment conditions based on personal and contextual factors can help identify those most in need of support. In the majority of education systems, being satisfied with the terms of employment (barring salaries) is not related to teachers’ gender, once age, years of teaching experience, school characteristics, contract modalities and personal utility motivations (i.e. job security and flexibility) are accounted for (Table 7.57). Yet, there are 12 education systems where female teachers are less likely to be satisfied with their employment terms (barring salaries), even after controlling for potential mediating factors. Notably, in Croatia, Estonia and the Netherlands*, female teachers are over 40% less likely to be satisfied with their employment terms. On the contrary, in Albania and Uzbekistan, female teachers are over 30% more likely to be satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries).
The association between teachers’ satisfaction with their salaries and gender varies across education systems (Table 7.66). In Albania, Austria, the French Community of Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Kosovo, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Uzbekistan, female teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries, after accounting for age, years of teaching experience, school characteristics, contract modalities and personal utility motivations (i.e. job security and flexibility). In Iceland, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malta, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam, the reverse pattern is observed.
In more than one-third of education systems, novice teachers are more likely than experienced teachers to report satisfaction with their employment terms (barring salaries) (Table 7.52). There are only four education systems – Austria, Bahrain, Japan and Singapore – where the share of teachers satisfied with their terms of employment is higher among experienced teachers. The same overall pattern – where novice teachers are more likely to be satisfied with employment conditions – holds true when focusing solely on full-time teachers (Table 7.53). These results suggest that although novice teachers are more often on fixed-term or part-time contracts, their lower expectations regarding employment terms may be associated with higher levels of satisfaction. Moreover, these results may also reflect young people's growing preference for work-life balance and flexible or reduced hours (OECD, 2025[5]).
Even though teachers’ salaries tend to increase with years of experience, novice teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries, in 16 education systems, and on average (Table 7.63). In particular, the share of novice teachers who are satisfied with their salaries is at least 15 percentage points higher than that of their more experienced colleagues in Estonia, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal and Serbia. In contrast, there are 13 education systems where more experienced teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries.
Salary satisfaction is not only linked to salary levels but also to pay progression (OECD, 2020[40]). As shown by TALIS 2018 (OECD, 2020[40]), more experienced teachers tend to be less satisfied with their salaries in education systems where the teacher salary structure is relatively flat (i.e. salaries increase moderately in the first 10-15 years). According to the latest available data from Education at a Glance (OECD, 2024[2]), in 9 out of 41 education systems – including Hungary, Iceland and Italy – the ratio of statutory salaries for teachers with ten years of experience and starting salaries6 is below 1.1. In contrast, in Colombia, Korea, the Netherlands* and New Zealand*, the ratio exceeds 1.5. Focusing on full-time teachers who work in publicly managed schools, Hungary, Iceland and Italy are among the education systems where experienced teachers are less likely to be satisfied with their salaries than their novice peers, whereas in Korea and New Zealand*, the reverse pattern is observed (Table 7.65). Thus, flat salary progression is linked to lower salary satisfaction among experienced teachers, whereas steeper pay trajectories – where salaries increase with years of experience, as seen in Korea and New Zealand* – are associated with higher levels of satisfaction over time.
In 12 education systems, a lower share of experienced teachers working full-time in publicly managed schools report being satisfied with their salaries compared to novice teachers (Table 7.65). This difference ranges from 16 to 21 percentage points in Italy, Montenegro and North Macedonia. In contrast, there are 11 education systems where the reverse pattern is observed. In Bahrain, New Zealand*, Singapore and Slovenia, the share of experienced teachers working full-time in publicly managed schools who report being satisfied with their salaries is more than 15 percentage points higher than that of novice teachers.
Teachers in rural schools tend to be more satisfied with their employment terms (including salaries) than their colleagues in urban schools . In Israel and Norway*, the share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment (excluding salary) is more than 15 percentage points higher in rural schools than in cities (Table 7.71). Differences in salary satisfaction (in favour of teachers in rural schools) are above 15 percentage points in Hungary, Israel, Romania and the United Arab Emirates (Figure 7.15). These differences may reflect incentives to attract teachers to underserved areas, as well as fewer job alternatives and greater purchasing power in rural regions.
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work
Note: *Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Rural schools refer to those located in rural areas or villages (up to 3 000 people). Urban schools refer to those located in a community with a population of over 100 000 people.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 7.75.
In Hungary and Lithuania, the gap in salary satisfaction between teachers working in rural schools and those teaching in cities has increased (in favour of teachers in rural schools) since 2018 (Table 7.76).
Teachers in privately managed schools are often more satisfied with their employment terms (including salaries) than those working in publicly managed schools (Tables 7.71 and 7.75). The share of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment (excluding salary) is higher in privately managed schools than in publicly managed schools, in 12 education systems, and on average (Table 7.71). In Morocco, this difference is 31 percentage points. In Colombia and Spain, however, the reverse pattern is observed. In these education systems, the share of teachers who are satisfied with their jobs is higher in publicly managed schools compared to their peers in privately managed schools.
Similarly, teachers in privately managed schools tend to be more satisfied with their salaries in 12 education systems, and on average (Table 7.75). The largest gaps in salary satisfaction are found in Albania (35 percentage points), the United States (30 percentage points) and Morocco (28 percentage points). The gap in salary satisfaction between teachers working in privately managed and publicly managed schools has increased considerably (in favour of teachers in privately managed schools) since 2018 in the United States (Table 7.77). Yet, there are exceptions to the general pattern. In Austria, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, teachers in publicly managed schools are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries.
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← 1. TALIS does not measure the overall number of applicants who enrol to regular or fast-track teacher education or training programmes. Therefore, TALIS cannot provide insights into the overall attractiveness of the teaching profession.
← 2. Recipients of the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme are required to teach in public schools for the duration of the funding received. For more details about this programme, see https://www.funzalushaka.doe.gov.za/.
← 3. In Portugal, the number of teachers employed on permanent contracts had reached around 8 000 by 2023. Approximately 30% of teachers on permanent contracts were recruited under the Portuguese Labour Code, which restricts successive temporary contracts, while around 70% were hired through dynamic recruitment processes. These teachers' salaries were adjusted to reflect their length of service.
← 4. For more details, see https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/portaria/118-a-2023-212905835.
← 5. The importance of job flexibility to teachers is assessed based on how important they consider working hours that accommodate family responsibilities (TQ-73c) and the flexibility of teaching commitments, such as travel, part-time work and family obligations (TQ-73d).
← 6. Refers to annual salaries of full-time teachers in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption.