Job Discussion Forums

[No Moss]

Com-Com, an established English center in Shenzhen, hasn't paid their December payroll, due yesterday. They're having a "meeting" on January 12th, which may be the end of the school's existence.

Don't accept work there until or unless this clears up.

Sorry to see them go, they were a pretty good school.

[Plan B]

I have heard something similar, although don't know the details.

Com-com has supposedly been on the ropes for a while now. From what I understand, they do both in-house and corporate on-site training. I imagine the corporate on-site training is the side that has suffered due to the economic downturn, while still having the expenses required for the in-house side. This is all pure speculation of course...

How are the rest of the training centres in Shenzhen doing? How about Meten, Wall street, Beijing O, Linguaphone, etc?

[tesolprof]

It's true, Com-Com did not meet its December payroll. However, what is worse is that management did not answer phones or respond to email messages from concerned employees for over 10 days after salaries were due. As far as I know the other English training centers in SZ are doing OK. Education is one of the few businesses that actually picks up in economic downturns, for obvious reasons. Almost everyone who has worked at Com-Com would agree that this school suffered mostly from inept marketing and management, their education system recieved high marks from students who had attended other centers.

[twinman]

They haven't bitten the dust just yet.

The Nanshan location is padlocked and closed, but they've supposedly sold the COM-COM name to a franchisee who has just opened a new Nanshan branch not far from the old one.

The Learning Center, COM-COM's big corporate school in the News Building in Futian, has remained open for business since the company's payroll freeze and restructuring began last December.

I'm still trying to get paid, and even confronted one of the owners in person today, a Chinese American who personally recruited me to teach a part-time corporate class for COM-COM and then left me out to dry. I demanded my unpaid salary of 4,500 rmb. He was angry and embarrassed and quickly left the building. I doubt my efforts will do much good.

I think the powers that be at COM-COM English Shenzhen have no intention of paying teachers their back wages regardless of what any of us do to try to recoup our hard-earned salaries.

It's a shame when businessmen stoop to such dastardly and despicable tactics. Such is the game of life!

[Lei Feng]

I worked for Com Com when I first came to SZ four years ago. They were better organized than most. They paid on time and in full.

I was surprised to hear of their current difficulties, but I was told that at one point they were spending 850,000RMB a month on marketing so it is not a huge shock.

The Nanshan branch in Bao Li Da Sha has indeed closed or moved. I am not sure. I just walked by thier new location. It is behind Hai Ya supermarket, upstairs of Hot Yogz facing Book City.

It seems to be a great spot, but in the last year Meten, Wall Street, Web and Advanced Training Solutions have all opened up in the same area. I am not sure what the future holds.

It is really confusing to think that they would screw over their teachers, just to reinvest in a different location.