Everyone is going to China

When we left off last month [17-2-08], international school Heads were out on the teacher recruitment trail. February is the peak of the semester long hunt for new staff.

It’s tough work. Demand is greater than supply and you know what that means.

This is what one of my acquaintances wrote in an email the other day:

Recruitment was difficult this year for the school…we still have 6 positions to fill including physics and calculus… everyone is going to China

This is from a person who leads a school in a stable, American-centric, more-or-less friendly country where there is a decent standard of living. It’s not a hardship post.

For the uninitiated, six positions to fill between now and August might not seem like such a challenge. However, the operative word is "still". My guess is the Head has already filled 10-15 positions (now there’s some work) so an outstanding balance of six is significant, if not daunting.

This experienced school Head knows that she has a long spring ahead trying to find qualified candidates ~ made even more difficult because some are in the always-hard-to-get areas of math and science.

Yes, everyone is going to China ~ and to a slightly lesser degree the Middle East ~ where new international schools are popping up all over. This may be good news for international trade and commerce but it makes it a real challenge for those who have to staff the schools.

Alas, there are still a few more recruitment fairs in the spring. But the pressure is on to fill those vacancies…