Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

...and fewer taxpayers. And that means they'll cut ALT positions in public schools or hire teachers from non-English speaking countries.

[mitsui]

Well, I think that the private schools can afford native teachers in the future or the better public ones too, but absolutely the desire to cut costs will be strong.
That means more limited contracts, so as to avoid giving raises.
Even Japanese teachers can be on limited contracts.

Older teachers (around 60 or older) will be asked to take early retirement. Those that don't could be given extra, petty work in order to piss them off in order to get them to leave.

[Shakey]

[Black_Beer_Man]

I was talking with an ex-recruiter last night and he said most recruiters and big name language schools have no reason to raise salaries because the ESL market is weak and there are so many teachers hunting for work.

The big language schools don't hesitate to fire teachers for any reason at all. In fact, they prefer a high turnover of teachers to maintain that "fresh look" with new faces in their schools. They'll hang on to teachers who are exceptional or super popular with the students.

Then, on the other hand, it does work both ways. Many new teachers use these major language schools to get over to Japan, and then quit after 3 months to go to a better employer. However, with the soft job market these days in Japan, if you do that, you'll have to hustle to find a slightly better job.

[mitsui]

Well, I heard of a university in Kanagawa where teachers can stay up to 10 years but contracts can get renewed after five.
I think it is a poison pill, since what will teachers do after that?
I think some teachers really do not plan their future, especially if they are single or the spouse is not Japanese. But maybe then it matters less.

The other thing is this school is odd. It used to be 8 years, then six, then five, now ten? How can anyone trust them to keep their word?

Also I heard of a high school in Tokyo doing this so ten years must be a new pattern.

[theoriginalprankster]

Interesting to read this thread.

I've never worked or lived in Japan, but did at one stage desire to. The recruiter was honest - he did say I would probably save very little, and the start-up costs were high.

That was after I had taught in Taiwan for three years (2003-05).

Settled on Xiamen in China. An island-city of about 3 million. It was not as good as Taiwan (nowhere in the mainland will ever be), but it was good. I had a uni job, was an IELTS examiner, made plenty of money and had lots of free time to spend at the beach, or hop on a plane to an Asian destination.

In the first three years at the uni I had to take a bus-ferry-bus to work at the second campus. That was exhausting, but always had a seat. The next two years I was never more than 15 minutes from home to classroom, by bus, bicycle or on foot.

I decided to try out Shanghai. I would guess SH is similar to Tokyo. Crowded, busy, iPhone addicts everywhere. Not my cup of tea. I need nature, and will find a smaller city in China or elsewhere in Asia after this contract.

Still want to visit Japan though, perhaps Okinawa.

[Shakey]

[theoriginalprankster]