Job Discussion Forums

[igorG]

I declare the page 6 of the thread; Food Market: Tell us the truth

[dean_a_jones]

Yes, I dare say we have wandered slightly off topic here...

[Miajiayou]

[igorG]

That above is for the topic of "How much do you save/spend?"

On the topic, it seems necessary to say this again. Making money or not, this is about the similarities in our terms and conditions, which sometimes come for quite a different remuneration. Also, it's about the indication that some public schools may have much more than they say they have. If a school can take a hundred thousand bribe from some parent just for the right to have the kid enrolled there, and if the school's leadership can drive brand new foreign vehicles and live luxuriously, there are some indications that there's money to raise FTs salaries.

So, the angle here is that FTs know what the market is like and what the market could be if we just stuck together a bit more than we do. One of the reasons we don't relate to the topic well enough may be that some of us are parts of the low paying schools, and if there aren't FTs coming to our schools, we may have to sacrifice for our employers more then. Another reason we don't correlate on perhaps is that we have a direct or indirect interest in filling in such low paid positions either at our schools, or in the areas where we are, or even in the province or the whole country. The internet is an excellent tool to search for jobs or to look for job seekers and discussion forums provide a motive and opportunity for, not the honest FTs but the dishonest ones. The food page 6, for example, demonstrates how delighted some would be if the topic was different.

Lastly, on the topic, i have accommodated a user's request, from page 4 or 5, for personal experiences about wages and i've gone as far as to tell how much i am making and where i am. However, it turned out to have been a hoax request as the poster has not much followed his own words. Instead, he has decided to troll for at least two pages of this thread. Here are the words;

[pest2]

In Korea and Taiwan, there is an even and predictable market salary for English jobs. There is a little variation in salary in both places -- moreso in Taiwan -- but generally most jobs in Korea pay between 2000$~2500$ per month, and Taiwan jobs pay about the same minus free private housing and airticket.
In China, yeah, you look at the job ads and you see HUGE variations, by comparison. The OP made an interesting observation; some jobs are paying 13000 RMB while others are paying 4000 RMB.
Having worked in all 3 countries, I would attribute the relative variation in salaries in China to 2 main things: The vast size of the country, and Chinese ways of doing business.
The first one is obvious. There are many cities in China, and the cost of living in each one is also pretty varying. Shanghai, for example, has jobs paying 14000RMB -- a lot higher than in smaller cities -- but then again, its like 2 or 3x as expensive to live there as compared to some little countryside town further North.
The second one is not as easy to see unless you've been to some other countries in East Asia. Koreans, for example, are more collectivist by nature. They tend to follow each other's trends and do the same things. If the market prescribes a given salary level, they all tend to follow it. In the case of salaries, that collectivism comes as the effect of workers protesting, "it's not fair!" in case someone is making more or less money, and the companies in turn relying on that market norm to guide them away from such protests. Chinese, on the other hand, are both very individualistic and very prudent business people (sometimes, here in Korea, I wonder how and why people ever buy anything in Korea at all because they are so lousy at negotiating and selling). They know how to create price schemes and manipulate sales independent of other sellers ideas. They tend to look out for their own tale, even for the sake of face, whereas others are worried more about appearing generous and fair. Koreans: "Let me pay for dinner" Chinese "It's your turn to pay for dinner". That, of course, is just face; in reality people in both places are equally as self-interested... So for the job market, Chinese tend to just bargain directly and try to get what they can for themselves... And since there are so many different situations and factors, that means that salaries and benefits for English teaching jobs in China do indeed vary greatly.

[Dilton]

Not everyone is in this for the money. Some find other countries that have political or social systems more closely matching the person's belief system and ideals.

[dean_a_jones]

[pest2]

[JohnnyTrippia]

[JohnnyTrippia]

[Kirkpatrick]

Pest2 hit the nail right on the head. ı also have worked in all 3 plus a couple others.

[igorG]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[Non Sequitur]

Great Wall:
Have the bosses made any real steps to retain you?
I'm thinking of offering equity participation in addition to more money of course.
Has the psyche of the Chinese gotten around to true joint ventures or pooling of skills and resources with Westerners?

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I really don't want to get into what the boss offered me, but it is something along the lines of teaching his classes for a stable set amount per class and having the ability to use school resources on my own time to make my own classes of my own design and curriculum and earning 100% of the profit safe for a small amount to the doorman for helping us.