Johannes M.
AGEISM
I'd like to add to Peter's letter and confirm the scenario he described; as I'm experiencing the same. My career as a TEFL Teacher had been only ten years, as I started at the age of fifty, when I still was accepted as an English major teacher at Chinese universities...and
after that, I got accepted also at ///english training centers in different provinces of China, to teach young learners, until I became obliged to leave China for South Africa, my homeland, due to terrible difficulty to again apply for a work permit, at age fifty nine.
I don't know whether this is only an Asian phenomenon, bu it's definitely REAL, Peter.

Serious S.
Peter and Johannes,
Experiencing a similar situation here in Thailand.
The initial Temporary Thai Teachers Cert. is a rolling 6 year certification, renewable every 2 years, for 3 times. However, Covid killed about a year and a half of mine. So, having taught for 4.5 years here my 6 years are up. And in order to earn the necessary Post Graduate Certificate in Education to petition the MOE for the necessary Full-time Thai Teachers License for the next 5 years. They are giving some extensions, but it's extremely difficult to get the MOE to authorize them. And the schools don't even know that it's a possibility. So they are being lazy about asking for the extensions. They would rather hire less experienced, new arrival teachers.

Serious S.
To Peter,
Also, I am 54y.o. and am experiencing the same difficulties lately. I left a low paying but gratifying university teaching position in Dec. 2022. I took a few months off to do something else and am now finding that a lot of the teaching jobs are going to nonNES teachers who will work for much less. Parents and Schools want qualified, experienced teachers. But don't want to pay higher salaries. And since Covid, everything is more expensive. There are no cost of living increases or travel allowances or relocation assistance. But they expect us to shoulder the burden of financial responsibility for moving and stupid, free demo. lessons. I refuse to do them if they are not local. The language schools are insane about free visits.

Andrew G.
I can verify the same. I have had 3 schools in 2022-2023 lie and cheat at almost every turn. Jobs in China now all go to 20 something girls with blue eyes and a nice butt...experience and credentials don't apply to them, and they haul in 30k+ if they look good in jeans....it's a racket teaching here now.