Over half of the TEFL jobs in Ireland advertised on an international website are for year-round classroom teachers. This compares to just one third of UK jobs on the same site, where ads for senior staff predominate. At just eight jobs in total, the sample is small, but advertising internationally for teachers is uncommon for the Irish industry, which has traditionally got most of its staff locally.
One Dublin school appears to be actively courting teachers from the European Union, offering subsidised host family accommodation and specifying it needs teachers with EU work rights – even though British citizens, who are forbidden from working in the EU unless they have residence, are allowed to work in the Republic.
Another difference between the two neighbouring countries is whether or not the schools advertise the salaries. All but one of the Irish schools looking for classroom teachers do, but only one of the UK institutions does. Average hourly rates have always been higher in Ireland and appear to have ticked up a smidgeon after a decade or more of wage stagnation. Hours of work are longer, with one school offering an exhausting maximum of over 30 hours. By contrast, zero-hour contracts remain the norm in Britain.
On both sides of the Irish Channel the chain schools are also on the hunt for staff, with EF, Kaplan and Berlitz all featuring. They may well be successful in the UK, though Dosses are in short supply.
So, will the Irish have to hike up their rates of pay or will they import teachers – even, perhaps from Britain?
