Job Discussion Forums

[etx]

Most schools of course pay a salary pegged to a dollar rate -- for example, $700 worth of rubles plus a flat.

The dollar is now at new lows against the ruble -- from 32 rubles per dollar in 2003 to about 27 now.

And the bad news is, the central banks are keeping the rates artificially high to maximize ruble profits from barrels of oils sold priced in dollars. If left to the free market, the rate would probably be about 19 or 20, or so I am told by varoius students who work in banking.

All of my students who work in finance also warn me that the ruble will probably be floated sometime before the end of 2006, and that will mean anybody with a dollar salary is going to be suddenly hard up for money.

Naturally language schools started paying in dollars because of the threat of sudden devaluation of the ruble, but it remains to be seen what will happen to salaries if the dollar goes any lower.

English teachers just can't win, can they?

[Seeker of truth]

So are you suggesting that ESL teachers in Russia should start requesting their salaries strictly in Rubles?

What's to say that the Russian government isn't going to go on another spending spree financed by inflating its money supply, and thus leading to more inflation of the Ruble? Have your banking students discussed this?

[civi1968]

The dollar is predicted to decline against most currencies not only due to oil, but US debt. Now may be a good time to negotiate to be paid in Euros.
mike

[etx]

The other option, according to my students who work in finance (and some are very well-connected people) is that the value of the ruble may start to fluctuate wildly once it is floated -- 20 one day, 30 the next, 24 the next, etc.

I seem to recall hearing that back in the 90's when the currency was doing that, schools would take an average of the daily rates for determining the monthly pay. Currently, most schools pay you whatever the exchange rate is on payday.

Indeed, Russia is a country which now has an $80 billion cash surplus, and America is currently, as of April 26 9:22pm, in debt this amount:

$8,362,284,394,371.55

A mere 8 and a half trillion! I'd rather be getting paid in Rubles, no doubt.

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

X

[siberiamad]

Not wanting to sound too flippant but I couldn't care less for salary - I didn't even know what the pay was before I came out here, though obviously a few roubles comes in handy. I know not everybody thinks the same and that's their choice.

G

[zaneth]

Uhh, yeah, that is rather flip. It isn't necessarily a function of how we think. Or 'choice'. Some people have set expenses and responsibilities to other people. Even if our deepest desire is to walk the earth like the monk in Kung Fu.

A friend of mine was telling me recently that though the dollar has fallen a bit relative to the Euro (and ruble), both the dollar and Euro have gone down rather drastically in relation to the Swiss Franc.

Demand your pay in Swiss Francs!!

Return to subsistence farming NOW!!

[jinji]

just peg your $ to ruble exchange at signing of contract
for example $14 /hour at 28 rubles to the $

go with the.....

[canucktechie]

[M.]

[maruss]

This especially applies to Russia!