End of the line for English teaching?

I thought this article was quite interesting:

http://education.independent.co.uk/careers_advice/article348582.ece

I spent a little over 5 years as an English teacher in Japan and a lot of what this guy wrote, while sad, is true.

When I went over in the late 1990s my starting salary worked out to over 45,000$ Canadian. With today's exchange rate the same salary would be barely 30,000$, if you could even find a place paying that much because the salaries in yen seem to be going down too.

Its too bad really. You used to be able to go over, spend a few years working, learning the language and experiencing the culture and, at the same time, saving up a bunch of cash so you didn't feel like you were wasting your time. Now you can still go over and make enough to get by, but you won't have much money to take home with you.

I imagine that this must make going to Japan much less attractive to young graduates than it used to be. If I was in their shoes, I would probably still go but only spend 1 or 2 years instead of 5 because I just couldn't afford to stay longer.

It seems to be part of a long term trend. I've met old timers who went over in the 70s and 80s and were able to get rich quick. In the 90s it was no longer possible to do that but you could still make a decent amount of money with a decent job. Now you can't even do that.

Any thoughts?

Its the job showing its real worth. At the same time its not good for the Japanese in general - in the past it was easy for Japanese tourists to go overseas and spend alot of money, as the exchange rate worked in their favor. This is great for the host nations as you get alot of traffic and alot of money being spent. But now with the Yen not as strong as it has been in the past holidays overseas and good are more expensive.

For example I remember the exchange rate with Australia in the mid 90's to be around 60 yen to AU$1. Today its about 86 yen to AU$1 and its been as high as 90y/$. While this is great for me coming here, for people going to Australia (or me when I go back) its not as good.

A big issue is going to be a saturation of the market. Already as noted things are slowing down, but theres no shortage to fresh, young, and most importantly naive workers, willing to accept contracts and wages that the more experienced and wise expats would never touch. The turnover is huge, they churn through employees, and if you are hired on as part time that means they can cut you off whenever they want, and replace you with someone who is willing to work harder for less.

Sign of the recession?

Interesting article, senseiman. I'm a soon-to-be college grad who's been itching for quite some time to go through the experience of teaching English in Japan for a year, mostly for the cultural experience. Just about all of the information I've found has pertained to short-term folks like myself, so I haven't really been aware of how it is in the long term. Good to keep my eyes open.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. There is no shortage of English teachers and I hate to say this, but they are all replaceable. Especially in larger Western cities. In my city, the minimum wage is $8/hr I believe. Salary for a basic ESL teacher is starting at $9/hr. Mind you, this is for a conversation class, but even this requires someone who is has a good understanding of English grammar, pronunciation and holding a good conversation. Most places would prefer a YOUNG university student.

As for teaching overseas, the salary will probably get worse. Someone was telling me a lot of students are starting to learn chinese as a second language now... I don't know how much truth is in this statement, but I'm sure eventually this may be a possibility as china's economy grows.

Oh, English will still be popular, mainly because its an integral part of the Japanese schooling exam system. As soon as its dropped as a compulsary subject or made optional in University entrance exams the demand will dissapear in a flash.

Ewok85 said:

Oh, English will still be popular, mainly because its an integral part of the Japanese schooling exam system. As soon as its dropped as a compulsary subject or made optional in University entrance exams the demand will dissapear in a flash.

Click to expand...

Yes I agree with you, I should have stated my opinion is "in the long run". And, it's only a possibility.

I read on www.gaijinpot.com that English teaching jobs these days are not that hot anymore.Back in the 80's-90's it was though.
I think it's partially true, because so many (qualified/not qualified) people go to Japan to work as an English teacher. :?

That being said...

It's still pretty easy to find a job teaching English here that pays better than alot of work in the US. I know many people who teach private conversation classes and make 3,000 yen an hour or more. NOVA and JET might not be a lucrative as they used to be, but 280,000 yen a month for a recent college grad ain't half bad. Hell, I know someone in the JET program who saved $17,000.00 in two years. And he didn't exactly live in poverty during that time.

Well said MP.

Rock Lee said:

I read on www.gaijinpot.com that English teaching jobs these days are not that hot anymore

Click to expand...

Well, one look at the right side of the page shows some pretty good job that pay quite well.

I don't know where this guy is coming from or where he is getting his info, but there still seems to be no shortage of good paying teaching jobs in Japan as this site will show. Sure his friends may be getting their wages cut and all, but I'm guessing it may be illegal. Also, anyone with a visa can apply for national health insurance by just going to your city hall, even students, if I am not mistaken.

Also, isn't the minimum wage for a full-time teacher in Japan 250,000 yen/month as set by law some years back? When I was teaching in the 70's and 80's there was no such law, but the pay was still good. You were only limited in how much you made by how much you wanted to work. If one looks around hard enough one can always find a good paying position. Even though I do not plan on returning permanently for a few years yet I still look around on the net and when I go for a visit and jobs are plentiful.

It seems these days that places like NOVA and ECC have a firm grip on most of the teachers coming over and pay them quite low for, what is it, a 30 - 40 hr week. Even at 250,000 yen/month the pay is quite low for that many hours worked. They are a rip off, plain and simple. But there seems to no shortage of "teachers" willing to take it and then complain about it afterwards.

There are still plenty of jobs that pay 3,000 yen/hr or more for 3-4 hrs per day of work. That works out to a minimum of 180,000 - 240,000 yen/month for half the hours! If one looks around and does some homework one could work for two or three different companies at the same time as I did for a while. Also, companies like these pay for all transportation costs from your home to the place you will be teaching at.

For example one could work for company A that sends you to a two hour class at a major corporation in the mornings twice a week or maybe every day. Company B would have you teaching for 2 or 3 hrs in the afternoon and company C would send you to major businesses for a 2 hr class in the evening. Plus, one could always teach on Saturdays.

Again, I was only limited in how much I made by how much I wanted to work as there sure was, and probably still is, plenty of openings especially in these smaller companies where it's not that easy to find teachers since most of the teachers coming over are swallowed up by the major names.

I found out that these types of companies paid the highest as their overhead was very low and their ability to find teachers was limited.

Jobs with ECC and NOVA et al should be a stepping stone to getting to Japan as it is easy to get a visa from them. After the initial contract, if one wants to continue living and working in Japan, they should do their homework and seek out these smaller companies for better pay and less hours as they will also help you with your visa.

So no, the well has not dried up IMO as this writer seems to imply. I believe that as long as English remains the international language for business, and the Japanese continue to have a mental block to learning English, there will always be plenty of English teaching jobs in Japan that pay well.

I still wouldn't want to live here and work in an industry where 320,000 yen is "good pay", I'd consider that a minimum, and only temporary at best.

Ewok85 said:

I still wouldn't want to live here and work in an industry where 320,000 yen is "good pay", I'd consider that a minimum, and only temporary at best.

Click to expand...

Average graduate starting salaries in the UK are around 20,000 UKP/year. That works out at about 34 man/month - so pretty close to a JET English teacher.
When one factors in that a lot of the rural JETs pay little if any rent, then the salary starts to look very attractive. The job requirements are very basic - a three/four year degree! Near guaranteed job security for three years (I have yet to hear of a JET being fired). For American JETs the health insurance is an excellent deal - and for UK/Can/Aust/NZ nationals too if they do the math.
Still, your "only temporary at best" comment is valid. But as "something to do before I get a real job" there are a lot worse things than coming to Japan to prostitute yourself in Eikaiwa.
--

Sounds like
1: Paranoia
2: The same thing that happens to basically every "good idea" that other people find out about.

I went in the late 90's, and had basically the lowest paying job for a gaijin which is 3 million yen a year... and doesn't include private students. I know people that stay in the states and don't make that much.

I used to do arbitrage between Yahoo Japan and Ebay. I made a KILLING the first 2 years. About 300% average profit if I could get items in bulk on one site (which I usually did). Those days are long gone, b/c Japanese stores all stole my idea (perhaps b/c they learned enough English?).

I guess it's a littel bit of both.

Probably one of the more interesting signs of change... Interac is advertising for non-native english speaking people to be ALTs. Thats just going to open up English teaching to even more people than before.