Education exodus: Amid mounting challenges, how fulfilled are teachers in the EU?

Across the globe, a growing number of young teachers are considering leaving the profession within the next five years.

In 2024, teachers under the age of 30 were more likely to want to do so than their colleagues between the ages of 30 and 49, according to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).

TALIS research collected data in 2024 from some 280,000 teachers and school leaders at 17,000 lower secondary schools across 55 education systems, including 23 EU countries.

It found that more than four in 10 EU teachers below the age of 30 want to leave the profession in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

On average, the most common reasons reported by teachers under 30 who plan to leave teaching within the next five years are personal or family reasons (46%), a job outside of education (46%), and to pursue further education or training (42%).

The average age of OECD teachers is around 45 years old, while more than half of teachers are 50 or older in Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal.

The exodus of young teachers is a significant problem because these education systems may face the challenge of filling a vast shortage of teachers over the next 10 to 15 years, as half of them reach retirement age.

In response, many governments are recruiting teachers from other sectors to ensure a sustainable supply of qualified educators.

For instance, Bulgaria saw a 13% increase between 2018 and 2024 of lower secondary teachers who have previous work experience in non-teaching roles.

France was the only education system to see a decrease, from 21% of teachers in 2018 to 17% in 2024.

What factors can help keep teachers in the profession?

Satisfaction with salary also plays an important role in attracting and retaining teachers.

Teachers happy with their pay are, on average, 25% less likely to leave.

In Austria, the Flemish and French-speaking communities of Belgium, Bulgaria, and Denmark, more than three in five teachers say their salary is enough.

Yet, in countries like Malta and Portugal, fewer than one in five teachers report the same.

Teachers' perceptions of how valued they feel by policymakers are closely related to their satisfaction with salaries.

Fewer than one in 10 teachers in Croatia, Estonia, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain feel their views are valued by policymakers.

However, lower secondary teachers in 10 EU countries saw an increase in how much they believe society values their profession from 2018 to 2024.

Salary aside, teachers feel their profession's satisfaction can also come from benefits, work schedule, personal motivations, and job security.