The OECD's recent research initiative, Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers (OECD 2002), has highlighted teacher supply and demand as an area of international concern. Using data collected in this area as part of a wider OECD initiative (the PISA 2000 study) an individual-level analysis was conducted on the views on teacher recruitment and retention of 5416 headteachers, principals and administrators working in secondary schools in 25 countries. The findings showed considerable variation between countries in terms of perceptions of the impact of teacher shortages, inadequacy and turnover. Surprisingly, however, differences in the reports of head-teachers working in the same countries were only rarely related to the size, location, or other characteristics of the schools in which they worked. Although there has been considerable previous research into headteachers views on this issue, much of this research has been, by necessity, small scale and restricted to a single nation. This article provides a much larger scale perspective and allows international comparisons to be made.