Job Discussion Forums

[Deano1979]

Hi All

There have been a few posts detailing cost of living and salaries, but some of them are quite old. I am looking for something a little more recent from those in Russia at the moment.

What are the average salaries like? It seems that the BKC's and LL's offer about $700 a month for 26 hours and throw in a flat that you have to share.

If they are offering that, I take it that that is the medium average then? What the salary ranges like? Whats acceptable?

Just how far does $700 net get you these days (Not in Moscow, I intend to be in ST Petersburg or somewhere more remote). The posts I have found are about 3 years old. I like to go out for a few beers and enjoy going out to the odd club once or twice a month. Im not looking to really save money at the moment. As long as I have enough to cover transport, put decent food on the table and have a semi decent social life, I am happy.

Another thing is gyms. What does it cost to join a gym there? I exercise almost daily and would like to keep it that way if possible. I am going to the land of the kettle bell, so thats always an option I guess

Thanks for your help

[macedonianmike]

Check out:

http://waytorussia.net/

Not sure how up to date it is but they have prices for several cities.

Something else to look into is how far your dollars, euros, pounds etc... will go. This is an easy place to do that: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

[quietguy]

Gyms are expensive. I can't give specifics for Moscow, but I paid a bit over 11000 rubles for a 6 month contract that allowed me to use the facilities between 0700 and 1700 in Zelenograd (suburb about 40km from Moscow) last year.

[rusmeister]

[Deano1979]

Rus, If I was worried about money, I would never even consider EFL in the first place

Im looking to travel, but dont believe that one can really expereince a country and its culture unless you work and live there for a while. Im not looking to save for retirement or anything. I have given myself 3 years to see three countries and travel a bit when finances and time permit. It an extended career break

As long as I have enough to put food on the table, buy the odd pair of jeans and go out for a few beers during the week, I am quite happy.

What would you consider to be a livable wage these days in Russia? The reason why I raised the issue again was because of the constant media coverage regarding rising costs in Russia.

I take it $700 is not much these days then. What would you consider an average wage considering living costs in 2007?

[rusmeister]

(FTR, my comments aren't aimed at people who are independently wealthy and just looking to spend a year adventuring. They assume that you actually need to earn money to make a living.)

I'd say a westerner planning to live in Moscow should be making either at least $1500 (not including apartment). Otherwise, you can't save a penny and you'll be skirting poverty. And I'm not talking about expensive nightclubs and high living, either. If you plan to save no money at all and to leave immediately at the end of the school year you could squeak by on maybe $1200, but again, why would you want to when you could squeak by in much more pleasant locales? (Again, if you're financially set, this doesn't apply to you.)

[maruss]

I was making around $2.500 in the winter of 2005/6 and didn't go out much ,yet I still never managed to save much either.
Moscow is becoming alarmingly expensive and accomodation equally so and difficult to find.It is also quite true about nightmare commuting,split-shifts which result in 15 hour days and remember it is no walkover living and working in such a stressful,overcrowded and polluted environment!
So well may you ask-why do people go there and work for peanuts at BKC etc?Assuming you knew nothing about what Moscow is like and visited the BKC website.....It makes an interesting read and their boast of a 'middle-class salary is quite alluring for anyone contemplating going to Russia.
Of course when they discover the reality soon after arrival,they soon start making plans to either leave the firm and work somewhere else or leave Russia altogether, by which time another bunch of people have been recruited.....
Supply and demand,it works everywhere my friend and knows no language, creed or country!

[rusmeister]

I quite agree, maruss.
When you understand that a dinky little 1 or even 2 BR apartment sells for $80,000-100,000 (a hundred thousand dollars - for a tiny apartment!!!) you begin to realize that $700 a month is nothing at all.

People willing to work for less than minimum wage help keep wages and salaries down, help keep employers happy and professional teachers underpaid. (Lucky for me I'm not in the Moscow rat race.)

Hopefully y'all will have enough self-respect to insist on decent pay while you are here. If everybody would, the McSchools would have to offer more.

[mdk]

Aw, you guys! I'm not an adventurer. I just like living in Moscow. So this is something to be ashamed of?

I worked for a McSchool and I had a second income of around $1,500 call it $2200 a month altogether.

So where can you live in such a city for $2200 in the west? So what if the school people are frustating and idiotic. You walk out of the classroom at night and there you are on Tverskaya in front of the resurrection gate. maybe this weekend, who knows what you will do? How can you be bored in Moscow? If you are bored, God does not want you to enjoy yourself.

Here I am now in Fresno of all places - paying off the credit cards and building up my grubstake to go back. It costs the better part of $2200 to keep the car running. Last week I had a patient who weighed 600 pounds. I can't wait to get back overseas.

[rusmeister]

Well, consider, mdk,
every young adventurer who comes here for a semester or year and accepts poverty-level pay drags down the market pay for more committed professionals. I for one will be glad if the new visa laws keep out people who are not really serious, who are just mucking around. (Not saying this is you, just trying to explain why accepting substandard pay hurts the rest of us.

[Deano1979]

Rus, dont you think this is more a case of the schools that are at fault then the people who take those jobs? Surely the locals need to start voting with their feet and going to schools that offer a better service with better teachers? As long as the schools profit by employing average teachers at below par salaries, you cant blame them for paying what they pay. Its simple economics Im afraid.

To be honest, and I look at my own situation, its almost impossible for us to determine what a good wage is without doing quite a bit of research. I could see how so many people fall into the trap of believing that the wages being offered were fair. The fact that I am so pedantic means I like to know what to expect as much as possible before I make the move.

[rusmeister]

I understand and agree. I do think there is a level of fault with people who value themselves so lowly that they would go overseas to work for McDonald-level wages (or worse!) I'm not comparing who's more at fault, just appealing to the pride (in the good sense of the word) of people not to be the chumps for these schools. It's bad for them, it's bad for us (long-term professionals), it's good for the McSchools.

Like I said, the government has been taking some action for its own reasons. In connection with that, it's incredibly important for newbies here to understand what visas here mean, and what 'visa support' is. Even if you have it, you can find yourself forced to leave and re-enter the country two (or more) times a year, probably out of your own pocket. On these wages, who can afford that?

[silasbilas]

Can you pls explain these new visa laws? I thought that once you had your 12-month visa sponsored by your lang school, you were set for the year in Russia...

[Deano1979]

[canucktechie]