Just two years ago, teachers were desperately searching for new jobs and better pay. Now that’s changed. According to recruiters, the exodus from schools has been halted by the recent increase in teacher salaries. Question: for how long?
Just two years ago, recruitment agencies were inundated with messages from teachers looking to change jobs. This year, the situation has calmed down. Of course, there are still many teachers who question the possibility of changing jobs. We are mainly talking about young teachers looking for better career prospects, but the scale of the phenomenon is smaller.
Salary increase from a few months ago convinced experienced teachers to stay in educationthe rate of teachers deciding to retire has also clearly decreased – says Anna Sudolska, labor market expert at IDEA HR Group.
Teachers have been protesting low wages for years. The situation in recent years has led them to the difficult decision of abandoning teaching in favour of, for example, retail, services, IT, work in shared services sectors, and even in low-skilled professions such as warehouses. Of course, such situations were not commonplace and teachers were more willing to work in companies where skills related to education or knowledge of foreign languages were highly desired.
The main motivation for teachers to change jobs was salary. The work of a teacher is responsible and requires appropriate skills. Knowledge of foreign languages and organizational skills were most sought after in the commercial market. That is why teachers feel at home in large corporations, in the IT sector or as employees of administrative and HR departments. – says Anna Sudolska.
This year, fewer teachers are looking for work outside of school. We could say that the increase in wages caused this the exodus of teachers from schools has been gently halted, but there is no guarantee that this is a permanent situation and not the credit of confidence that has been given to the government by educators – adds the expert.
Which teachers most often decide to change jobs? We are talking mainly about beginning teachers, preschool education specialists, IT specialists and mathematicians.
The system is definitely not yet capable of competing for young teachers. While older people are already used to the school work system and change may be uncomfortable for them, young teachers and educators have no qualms about changing jobs. When, for example, there are job offers in commercial daycare centers, people employed in public institutions respond quickly. – says Anna Sudolska.
Whether teachers decide to leave or stay in schools depends on the government’s future plans to improve the quality of education and the pay rates for beginning teachers. It cannot be ruled out that many teachers will resign from their jobs, for example in September or October, after their first encounter with the school system and after receiving their first salary.
