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China society
ChinaPeople & Culture

Chinese city offers 400 teachers US$39,500 a year in bid to attract best graduates

  • As well as earning three times the industry average, successful candidates are promised 165 days’ leave
  • Social media posts linked to story attract more than 60 million views

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Authorities in Shenzhen are offering three times the national average salary to attract more teachers. Photo: Weibo
Laurie Chen

A recruitment advertisement offering schoolteachers in southern China the chance to earn up to 280,000 yuan (US$39,500) a year – more than three times the industry average – has sparked a massive response on social media.

Published by the Longhua district education bureau in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the advert said it was looking for 400 high, middle and primary schoolteachers. As well as an annual salary of between 260,000 yuan and 280,000 yuan, depending on qualifications, the very best candidates would receive a bonus of between 30,000 and 80,000 yuan, it said.
New recruits would also be entitled to 165 days’ leave per year, though the advert – published on Tuesday on WeChat, China’s most popular messaging platform – did not make clear if that included weekends.
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The Longhua district education bureau says it is looking for 400 new teachers. Photo: Weibo
The Longhua district education bureau says it is looking for 400 new teachers. Photo: Weibo

The hashtag “Shenzhen middle schoolteachers are being recruited for almost 300,000 yuan a year” racked up almost 60 million views on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.

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While some people praised the authority for trying to attract the best possible candidates – it said itself that hundreds of teachers currently working in the district were graduates of China’s top universities, including Peking and Beijing Normal – others said that even with a sky-high salary most young professionals would find it hard to get by in Shenzhen.

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