Yes, and no.
Since the MOE actually started cracking down on public school teachers hiring certified teachers, a huge swath of talented, caring native speaking FETs were, essentially, kicked out. They potentially had side gigs, legal (English village bonus hours) or otherwise (off-permit tutoring, unless APRC holders) for extra cash, but a lot were here for the perceived security/status/consistency of public school teaching. But, sorry 8181!
To fill in the gap, recruiters became even MORE essential in filling these positions. Standards (i.e., English mother tongue, experienced teachers) slipped. A lot of “fresh out of school with a degree only/sub teaching license” teachers with NO EFL experience or training starting being thrown into CLIL, experimental, or remote schools. Some had accents that were amazingly difficult to understand (although they were passionate and experienced in their L1).
MOE makes bigger messes out of existing messes.