On August 12, state and federal education ministers met in Canberra for their first in-person meeting in more than a year to discuss the increasingly dire nation-wide teacher shortage. In March, Guardian Australia reported that more than 4,000 extra high school teachers would be needed nationally over the next four years, with New South Wales and Queensland forecast to experience the biggest shortfalls. The figures – from federal government modelling – also showed more than 50,000 teachers were expected to permanently leave the profession between 2020 and 2025, including almost 5,000 teachers aged between 25 and 29. 

The situation has only worsened over winter, with the Omicron variant causing sweeping teacher absences that have forced schools to plug critical teacher vacancies with non-classroom-based educators simply to keep schools operating. Some have even considered returning to remote learning due to being up to 70 education staff short in a given week. 

This is a particularly challenging time for education employers, with the start of term four approaching, the time when hiring education professionals for the following year typically begins. 

Here, we look at some of the main factors driving the teacher shortage, and what education employers can do to attract and retain staff ahead of the 2023 school year. 

Burn out and lack of work-life balance is real amongst teachers 

The pandemic placed an incredible amount of pressure and stress on Australian teachers, both in primary and secondary schools. With remote teaching becoming the norm, the line between work and home was increasingly blurred for educators, seeing burnout become a serious issue. 

According to the NEiTA-ACE Teachers Report Card 2021, 75 percent of educators feel stressed by their work, 82 percent struggle with work-life balance and one in three are dissatisfied in their job. Over a quarter work more than a five-day week and many work irregular hours; 30 percent put in more than an additional 10 hours at school before going home and, once at home, 20 percent keep working for more than 15 hours. 

It’s no wonder then, that burnout and lack of work-life balance was identified as the top reason teachers are leaving, or considering leaving, the profession. 

To reduce the risk of teacher burnout, schools should consider creating structured wellbeing and support programs, and continuously reviewing their efforts in bettering employee wellbeing. This means fostering a sense of social connection, creating a psychologically safe working environment, enabling greater flexibility and providing access to support services. Furthermore, with many teachers describing their mounting administrative tasks as “overwhelming” and taking time away from their ability to connect with students, schools can look at how such tasks might be streamlined or minimised for staff. 

Uncompetitive remuneration 

According to the same survey, 49 percent of teachers reported they are paid “poorly” or “very poorly”, and, unfortunately, this issue is only worsening. In fact, educators’ salaries have been decreasing for several years – something that was only exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and increased inflation, with 84 percent of teachers indicating their salaries had decreased as a direct result. 

Many educators have undergone a sustained period of working in difficult conditions during the pandemic, citing increased intensity, higher stress and a larger workload. While salary is only one component of a retention strategy, it is a significant one when it comes to retaining and attracting teachers. 

In this way, it’s important for schools to understand the current labour market and what a competitive salary looks like. If resources aren’t available to offer salaries in-line with this, employers should consider other incentives that would appeal to teachers and make these key priorities within their employee attraction strategy. 

The impact on public schools 

The public school system has been hit particularly hard by teacher shortages, with vacancies reaching almost 1700 in July in NSW alone. As a result, in July the NSW government announced it would launch an aggressive push to draw more graduate teachers into the public system, as many public schools are unable to offer salaries in-line with independent schools or as many permanent placements. 

According to the head of the University of Sydney’s school of education, Deb Hayes, private school principals have more flexibility to offer stable employment and can snap up graduates during the gap between finishing their degree and starting work. 

“Giving teaching students earlier access to schools during their training will make them better teachers and help them build better relationships with schools, which we can leverage to provide earlier employment offers,” she said. 

While such initiatives are predominantly government and university-led, school Hiring Managers may need to adjust their expectations as to the level of experience job applicants have. While a candidate who has several years’ experience may be more desirable, being open-minded about hiring incoming graduates and providing on-the-job training could go a long way to helping fill vacancies. 

A leadership shortage 

The continuing teacher shortage is also driving a higher turnover of educational leaders, with a direct correlation between teacher shortages and declining job satisfaction of principals. 

With mounting pressure and intensification of role responsibilities, when principals face ongoing staff shortages, they are more vulnerable to depleted energy and waning resilience, resulting in higher attrition rates. By the same token, teachers identify effective school leadership as a critical working condition impacting their likelihood of staying or leaving the profession. In other words, losing effective principals can trigger the loss of more teachers. 

This problematic cycle demonstrates the need for schools to prioritise the mental health of their principals and other educational leaders. While there are very limited evidence-based recommendations to support principals’ wellbeing, some research has suggested factors encouraging principal retention include strong networks and knowledge of the workload involved for leaders establishing themselves at new schools.   

Enlist professionals to assist 

With teacher shortages being felt by primary, secondary, public and independent schools across the country, reaching out to professionals for advice and assistance will be beneficial in the lead up to the 2023 school year. Enlisting recruitment professionals that specialise in the education sector, such as Bayside Group, will give schools access to a larger talent pool, help Hiring Managers navigate the current labour market, and better understand how to attract teaching professionals to their school. 

If you’re looking for employees within the education sector, contact Bayside Group today and speak with our dedicated education recruitment consultants.