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New data reveals a stark reality: One in five teachers under 30 years of age plan to leave the profession within the next five years. In some education systems, this figure rises to half of young teachers. This finding from the 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), launched today, offers crucial evidence on the factors driving teacher attrition, amid a global teacher shortage of 50 million teachers across early childhood, primary, and secondary education.

The report identifies factors that support retention and wellbeing. Teachers with higher instructional autonomy report higher adaptability, greater job satisfaction, and greater wellbeing. Empowering teachers as leaders increases job satisfaction.

Teachers who engage monthly in collaborative professional learning report higher wellbeing, while those involved in exchange and coordination activities tend to report greater job satisfaction. Teacher wellbeing and job satisfaction are strongly related to having a supportive principal and positive relationships with students and parents. Teachers who feel valued by students also report greater job satisfaction and wellbeing.

Conducted every five years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), TALIS is unique as the only international study to be carried out on the views of teachers and principals on their professional development, job satisfaction, appraisal, and attitudes to teaching and leadership. The 2024 findings track significant changes since the 2018 edition and, for the first time, examine teachers' use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their work.

Education International’s response

Responding to the findings, Education International (EI) General Secretary David Edwards stated:

“We know what works. Governments must invest in the teaching profession—through competitive salaries, manageable workloads, fully funded professional development, and secure employment. But investment alone is not enough. Teachers must also have real autonomy, a voice in policymaking, and the resources to teach every student well.”

Edwards emphasised the scale of the investment required and the roadmap for action: "According to UNESCO's Global Report on Teachers, closing the teacher gap by 2030, in primary and secondary education alone, will cost USD 120 billion annually. EI's Go Public! Fund Education campaign calls for governments to increase funding for public education. To do this, fair and progressive tax systems that curb fiscal evasion and support tax justice are crucial. Prioritizing education in national budgets is not enough; this must be coupled with tax reforms to enhance domestic tax mobilisation and increase government budgets as a whole.”

EI’s President Mugwena Maluleke added that the findings underscore the urgency of action:

"The TALIS report provides a solid evidence base for the conversations education unions must have with governments. Teachers have spoken through this survey. The data confirms what we have been saying: investment in teachers—their salaries, their working conditions, their professional development, and their voices in policymaking—is what creates quality education systems and retains educators. But we must go further. Teachers must be guaranteed real professional autonomy and leadership opportunities. Governments must reduce administrative burdens, institutionalise social dialogue, and ensure access to training in critical areas like AI and inclusive pedagogy. They must also provide safe working environments that actively address violence, verbal abuse, and disrespect. Teacher well-being is not a luxury. It is essential to sustaining public education.”

A deepening global shortage

The report presents clear evidence of the growing teacher shortage. According to PISA 2022 data cited in TALIS, schools whose principals reported that instruction was hindered by a lack of qualified teachers rose from 26% to 47% between cycles.

On average, 17% of teachers who are not about to retire intend to leave the profession within five years, ranging from less than 6% in Korea, Portugal, and Vietnam to over 30% in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Among teachers under 30 years of age, 20% plan to leave teaching within the next five years, a figure that has increased since 2018. In Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, approximately half of young teachers intend to leave the profession.

The data reveals a critical finding: teachers who 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.

While almost nine in ten teachers report job satisfaction on average, levels vary considerably across systems. Teachers who agree that their views are valued by policymakers are 35% less likely to want to leave. Teachers satisfied with their salaries are 25% less likely to plan to leave, while those satisfied with their terms of employment are almost 40% less likely to leave.

Sources of stress: workload, violence, and respect

Ten per cent of teachers say that teaching impacts their mental health 'a lot', and 8% say it impacts their physical health 'a lot'. Administrative work is a source of stress for 52% of teachers, while 45% report that maintaining discipline causes them stress.

Notably, younger teachers are more disproportionately assigned to demanding classrooms, increasing the risk of burnout.

Perhaps most concerning, 18% of teachers describe verbal abuse by students as a source of stress, rising to 47% in Brazil. The report notes that being verbally abused might be more closely associated with job dissatisfaction than workload or other factors. Other significant stressors include addressing parents' concerns (42%), being held accountable for students' achievement (45%), and keeping up with constant changes (39%).

The salary and status deficit

Only around two in five teachers are satisfied with their salaries. In Iceland, Malta, Portugal, and Serbia, less than one in five teachers feel satisfied with their pay.

Around 14% of teachers have a fixed-term contract of one year or less, with the share considerably higher among younger and novice teachers. Approximately 20% of teachers are employed part-time.

On average, less than 30% of teachers agree that their views are valued by policymakers in their country or region—dropping below 10% in Croatia, Estonia, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. Only 35.3% of teachers agree that teachers are valued in society, ranging from 80% in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam to less than 10% in Croatia, France, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Teachers' involvement in school-level policy decisions affecting their practice is declining. Only one out of two teachers have significant responsibility for school policies measured, and fewer than four in ten have a role in defining school improvement policies.

Preparing for diversity: the resource gap

Schools are more diverse than in 2018, with 10% of students being non-native speakers and more than 10% having special needs. However, just 33% of teachers feel prepared to teach in multicultural settings, and only 44% feel prepared to support students' social and emotional development. Preparedness in subject content and pedagogy has also declined since 2018.

Shortage of competencies to teach special needs students is seen as a barrier by 33% of teachers. Shortage of support personnel was reported by 31% of teachers on average, rising to over 50% in Austria, Colombia, French community of Belgium, Italy, Morocco, South Africa, and Spain.

Professional development and artificial intelligence

While 73% of teachers report having participated in training activities (compared to 63% in other professions), only one out of two teachers found their training impactful. Lack of time is the biggest barrier to accessing professional development, followed by cost.

AI is the highest reported learning need, with 29% of teachers reporting a need for this. Yet three in four teachers say they do not have the skills or knowledge to teach using AI, and about half say AI should not be used in teaching. One in three teachers report being overwhelmed by the shift to new technologies, particularly AI.

The report captures significant global variation in AI adoption. Three out of four teachers in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates use AI in their work, whilst fewer than one in five do so in France or Japan. Only 18% of teachers in France and 31% in Denmark and Finland agree that AI assists in improving lesson plans, compared to 87% in the UAE and 91% in Viet Nam.

Go Public! Fund Education

The TALIS data validates the central premise of Education International's Go Public! Fund Education campaign: that adequate public investment in education and the teaching profession is essential to address the teacher shortage crisis and ensure quality education for all students.

Through the campaign, education unions in 180 countries and territories are mobilising to demand that governments increase public investment in education, pay teachers competitive salaries, provide secure contracts, fund high-quality professional development, place teachers at the heart of education policymaking through genuine social dialogue, and create safe working environments, in line with the implementation of the United Nations recommendations on the teaching profession.

The full TALIS 2024 report is available here