Job Discussion Forums

[Polina]

I just thought it was time for someone to report that the English teaching market in Taiwan is now saturated with teachers, and that for the time being at least, new people should stop coming to teach in Taiwan. Recently, I have known various people who have been looking for work, and have found it very difficult, some not being able to get enough hours to make their time here worthwhile (who's here for the scenery, fascinating culture or quality of life?) I've talked to a lot of people about this, and they have either had, or heard of others having, a similar experience. Some people have even been reported to leave the country because they couldn't find work. This saturation is quite dangerous to the well-being and livelihood of any teacher here, as it potentially gives the employers too much power. A similar posting to this one on tealit was mysteriously deleted by the next day! This suggests to me that this issue is quite important to the employers. People who post on forums that there is plenty of work must either be language-school owners, affiliated with one, or not in the teaching business any more. Surely it would be better for all concerned if there were fewer teachers here and the job market once more favoured the teachers. Please don't come unless it's the only thing you want to do at the moment! You may be sorely disappointed.

[brian]

Come on! There are plenty of jobs out there (in Taipei anyway).

There have been changes to the legislation regarding employment of foreign teachers. These have made it more difficult for schools to get paperwork through on new teachers. It isn't impossible, but there is far more accountability. One reason for this may be to restrict the activities that saw licenced schools renting their teachers out to other schools. The government wants to keep teachers at the schools that they should be working for.

If the individuals you are referring to had trouble finding work, it may be because they had nothing special to offer schools. Then again they may have just been looking in the wroing places. Either way, I wouldn't go as far as the warning that you have made. There is work here.

[killian]

taiwan exists outside of taipei. some of us don't want big city livin'. the east coast from (oh say) ilan down to kenting is always tight finding work.

perhaps area specific reports wouldhelp our readers best.

polina: tealit only deletes the useful and/or best posts, the rest the keep up for flame bait. if you can't find something here, try forumosa.com

[jason_seeburn]

[][]

[Aristotle]

Polina, you have to understand that ESL teaching on Taiwan is like most service industries, a classic example of supply side economics. It is a teachers' market and when demands weakens it will take a while for the supply to decrease. Give it a month or two. Best to take a little vacation or head up to one of the other ESL hot spots on the globe. Give the market time to adjust.
If your not going to make any money why not teach in Thailand?
A.

[jason_seeburn]

salaries do seem to be quite low right now. I actually saw 48,000NT per month for 100 hours in Kaoshiung. Nasty. Might be good to wait until summer if you're thinking of going over. Still lots of jobs though.

[Klamm]

Or go to China. That's the next best thing if your sights are set on Taiwan. The market is just really getting going and booming here. You've got to scrounge around and scour the place for the good paying jobs but they are here and it's much cheaper to get set-up. You might even find it wise to settle for those 4-5,000 Rmb jobs per month you'll find on the net. But fear not, there's much better once you get here and get oriented.

Keep your mind open and consider other options.

K.