Job Discussion Forums

[DirtGuy]

Hi.

I am reading more and more articles in the (US) papers that the Japanese economy is picking up. Employment is up, people are spending money, home prices are climbing, etc. Is this true? If true, does it also mean that the demand for English teachers is also increasing? What about pay? Not looking to make a ton of money but would like to do more than eat noodles 3 times a day.

Am close to finally selling my home (the market sucks here) and want to spend some time teaching overseas. Was thinking about going back to Taiwan but many posts are pretty negative about the economy. So starting to look at Japan.

Any info you can give me is appreciated.

Dirt Guy

[Glenski]

Jobs for English teachers are becoming fewer. Universities are closing or merging due to the declining growth of the population. Primary and secondary schools can't be far behind. You can easily find 20-100 candidates vying for every uni job. The government started down a path to make English mandatory in the elementary schools, and now it is reneging on that directive and doesn't it want English there at all.

Pay is also declining. What used to be a standard salary of 250,000 yen/month for entry level people has gone down to a rough average of 200,000-220,000.

[markle]

Yeah the economy is picking up but the English language market is so saturated it will be a while before it affects things like salaries. In someways the ESL market was protected from the effects of bubble bursting because Englsih language was seen as one way of getting an edge in the job market.