The Golden Rice Bowl Loses Its Shine! Why Nobody Wants to Be a Teacher? Experts Reveal '3 Major Flaws' in Military and Civil Servant Pay Adjustments: Unattractive to Young People

With prices continuing to rise, the issue of salary adjustments for military personnel and civil servants has once again drawn public attention. On the 3rd, the Taiwan Education Industry Union released a statement analyzing data from the past decade (2016–2025).

During this period, Taiwan's per capita GDP surged from $22,865 to $39,477, a cumulative increase of 72.6%, with projections indicating it could reach $44,181 next year. In contrast, the minimum wage saw a cumulative increase of 44.22%.

However, military and civil servant salaries were adjusted only four times—in 2018, 2022, 2024, and 2025—resulting in a mere 14.7% cumulative raise. Meanwhile, the cumulative rise across 17 key consumer price indices reached 21.92%, indicating that the real purchasing power of public employees has actually declined.

Li Ya-Jing, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Education Industry Union, pointed out three fundamental flaws in the current salary adjustment mechanism. First,基层 representatives from the military and civil sectors are not included in the deliberation process. Second, the review procedures and reference data lack transparency. Third, the outcomes of these reviews serve only as advisory input for the Executive Yuan, lacking legal binding force, making the system prone to becoming symbolic rather than substantive.

Why are new teachers unwilling to stay? Four workplace realities challenge talent recruitment.

The widening gap between salaries and living costs directly impacts talent development and retention in schools. Citing Ministry of Education statistics, Union President Kuo Yen-Cheng noted that only about 60% of newly trained teachers choose to enter frontline teaching positions, highlighting severe talent attrition and recruitment bottlenecks at the grassroots level.

Kuo identified four core reasons why younger generations avoid the education sector: lengthy and costly teacher training; starting salaries insufficient to cope with high housing prices and inflation; increasing administrative burdens and parent-teacher communication pressures; and reduced retirement security following pension reforms, all of which have diminished the traditional appeal of teaching careers.

Vice President Yeh Ming-Cheng emphasized that a sound salary adjustment system must balance grassroots rights protection with national fiscal sustainability. He urged the government to establish a stable, predictable mechanism to prevent political bargaining, ensuring teaching remains attractive enough to retain quality educators and maintain educational standards and national competitiveness.

How to move beyond political posturing? The union advocates for institutionalizing regular reviews modeled after the Minimum Wage Act.

To fundamentally address systemic deficiencies, the Taiwan Education Industry Union proposed concrete policy recommendations, urging the government to institutionalize military and civil servant compensation adjustments by emulating the framework of the Minimum Wage Act.

Kuo explained that a permanent review committee should be established, comprising representatives from military and civil sectors, local government officials, and academic experts, ensuring diverse voices are heard.

Regarding evaluation criteria, the union advocates using objective economic indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the basis for adjustments. They also call for fixed review schedules and transparent information disclosure systems to enhance decision-making transparency and credibility, shifting salary adjustments from political negotiations to data-driven professional assessments.