Nine out of ten teachers say they are satisfied with their jobs, according to the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).
The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 surveyed approximately 280,000 teachers and school leaders from around 17,000 lower secondary schools across 55 education systems.
Satisfaction with the teaching profession
Almost 75% of those surveyed said that if they had their time over again, they would choose to become a teacher for a second time. In addition, nearly 95% of respondents said they often feel happy while teaching.
One key element of these figures is having a job with a purpose, and 95% of teachers said having the opportunity to make a worthwhile social contribution is important to them. This contribution outweighs other pressures that come with the role.
A valued role
The survey results also reveal a correlation between job satisfaction and how the profession is regarded by others. For example, in some countries such as Vietnam, more than 92% of teachers said they feel highly valued by society. And Bulgaria, Denmark and Saudi Arabia have all seen increases in the number teachers reporting they feel valued by society since 2018.
Renewing the workforce
In the areas surveyed, the average age of the teaching workforce is increasing. The OECD average teacher age is around 45 years old, and in places such as Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal it has risen to 50 or more.
To counteract this, education systems are recruiting professionals from other sectors into teaching and fast-track training programmes are steadily gaining traction. We can see this in Iceland, where second-career teachers now account for 21% of the workforce, and in Australia, where the figure is 17%.
Finding a way to keep the teaching profession sustainable is becoming more critical with each passing year; the survey also revealed that more than four out of 10 EU teachers under 30 want to leave teaching altogether.
Read more results from TALIS here
Reference
TALIS. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/talis.html (Accessed 4 November 2025).
Education exodus: Amid mounting challenges, how fulfilled are teachers in the EU? Available at: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/10/21/education-exodus-amid-mounting-challenges-how-fulfilled-are-teachers-in-the-eu (Accessed 4 November 2025).
