Job Discussion Forums

[Mattingly]

I just read a post in which skarper posted (I assume from Saigon correct?) about the market down there being saturated. Years ago, more and more new arrivals came to Saigon to experience a different culture and teach.

Many would move on in a year or two but there were and always are new arrivals entering. It seems there are actually more arrivals than departures and this started some time ago. Perhaps in and around 2007, if I recall correctly.

Now, Hanoi.

There has been a steady influx that is outpacing the exodus in Hanoi and it's ramping up even more, IMO.

Lots of folks in their 20s coming to teach, announcing their arrivals on FB pages and other forms of social media and the internet. Youtube has many vloggers now chronicling the cool aspects of living in teaching in Hanoi. South Africans in particular are arriving because of the current situation there. (I'm not blaming any nationality in particular. People are coming from all anglophile nations to give EFL a go).

The result obviously is a buyer's market. The schools are the buyers and the teachers are the sellers.

Wages have been stagnant for some time and are even in decline at some large chain schools.

I'm asking other long-term Hanoians teachers to chime in.

What's your observations? Your opinion? Where will this go?

[suphanburi]

For as long as Thailand continues to make life miserable for undocumented teachers there will be a continued influx of new blood to the Vietnam EFL market.

Until Vietnam actually cracks down (rather than a media blitz and forgotten again) on teachers without WPs there will be no change.

.

[sigmoid]

Well, it seems a bit curious. Hà Nội doesn't really enjoy a very great reputation as a place to live.

What are some of the cool aspects they mention?

As for the schools, the vast majority offer very little other than the hourly rate. Any sort of benefits or facilities for teachers are practically nonexistent.

So, it's no wonder the tattooed, pierced, head half-shaven masses are showing up.

The schools need somebody in front of the classroom and if they work for less, it seems like a win-win situation. The schools get teachers, and the teachers can 'maximize their hours' and cover their bar tabs.

[skarper]

I am in DaNang. Just for the record.

[nomadic_meow]

Ha, I hesitate to reply to this as I'm still looking for work in Hanoi, among other neighbors. But here goes.

Besides the aforementioned rush of expats, Hanoi can be fairly charming for a combination of conveniences and quaint architecture. It's perhaps not as hot as HCMC (? - famously lovely around February up here). It has a reputation for being a touch more conservative and serious, but also less hectic than the South.

While you might not actually get to know everywhere in Hanoi (it is still actually pretty far across if you count all the possible commuting to various tourist and business areas and traffic), it pales in comparison to some of what HCMC can offer for sprawl.

Last I checked - a year or two back? - Hanoi had some pollution seasons to compete with Beijing. But after having lived in Chinese cities for 3 years (even the edge of a rather nicer one), the local bike and whatever odd industrial particles around Hoan Kiem don't choke me up nearly as much as the car and construction particles and whatever else is flying about in north China. FWIW. I'm not so sure about say, living in Cau Giay, Hanoi or constantly commuting - especially by bike - during rush hour generally though. That can get fairly brutal on the lungs.

Anyway yes there are some cutthroat low-paying gigs on offer, too.