Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

In defense of Laurent, I know that the Germans who work in the VW factory as engineers get double their German salary plus housing. UNFAIR

[anthyp]

Why do you call us bigots for merely questioning the validity of numbers you yourself admit are totally bogus? We tolerate "fresh opinions" (?) just fine, it's when somebody presents his delusions as fact, and refuses to present credible evidence supporting his position when questioned, that we become a little annoyed. And why must you insist on using the word "per" in every post? Very annoying mannerism, you know. "For" is just as good a word, and not nearly as silly.

As the rest of us know, local teachers don't make too much. FEs can make quite a lot ... but it seems like more and more are accepting less pay. Is the market becoming oversaturated? Or are schools exploiting cheaper sources of labor (non - native FEs, for instance). Or are newbies simply allowing themselves to be duped by wily recruiters? Hey I'm a newbie myself, and got here through a recruiter, so this is pertinent to me. But it seems like I'm right in the middle for where I'm at, the hours I teach, experience, etc.

[Just a guy]

sounds like a troll trying to ....

[Roger]

Laurent,

you are pretending to be sitting on facts - but you aren't sitting on them. What is it you don't understand in my previous post?

I repeat it here:
Chinese white collars seldom make 6000 a month. SELDOM. I know some - accountants, managers, representatives - that make salaries in the 4000 to 10'000 range. I know a former teacher now a reporter who made 4000 in Guangzhou, and now is in Peking, where, I suppose, he is making more than that. But not more than myself.

I also repeat that your claim that expat teachers make 8000 or more is misleading; the majority don't. I also know some who make 15'000 without much effort, but that is because they have a very good employer. Not many of us have trustable and generous employers... I hasten to add that these jobs are NOT REGULAR ones; in fact, these folks are working illegally, for a boss who only takes a small commission from the tuition fees that schools and businesses pay him to send them a foreign teacher. This means that if these teachers don't do their damnedest they will quickly be sidelined and terminated. One customer fewer, and that translates into a serious loss of income. During holidays there is no pay either. And, they have to pay for their visas as well.
Many of us double or multiply our regular 4000 to 5000 a month salaries by working for other employers. Our basic salary normally is below 6000. But we have an advantage - we have an assured job for ten months, housing and salary for this period; after that - ? During this time, we are free to make extra income.

As for people working expat terms, why compare them to us??? I worked for a German company that had 4 managers from their headquarters. My wages were quite good but by no means above the top; I was paid hourly wages (RMB 150), was chauffeured to and fro home and had free dinner thrown in for good measure.
But my German superiors - whom I rarely saw - had monthly paycheques of, I guess, RMB 40'000, more than they made in Germany.
I don't consider the discrepancy as unfair at all; these guys were living in China for a limited period of time, some separated from their family or children; the extra pay reflects hardship compensation.
And, they had to contribute to the Chinese tax system and also pay to their country's social services - unemployment and old-age pension funds.

They were paid for by their German company which was the owner of a Chinese factory. Thus the money came from China. But they had to volunteer to live in a developing country to promote their company.

[Clancy]

My Chinese wife is a uni teacher and makes 8,000 per mo. for 6 teaching periods plus research and writing. She also gets a 20,000 rmb bonus at the end of each semester plus a 3,000 rmb per month housing allowance.

I make 150 rmb per teaching period and am currently teaching 26 periods.

This is about normal in Shanghai as far as I can tell.

[kev7161]

This summer I will work in an English Village for 4 weeks, 6 days a week, 6 periods a day (but only two groups of kids - - each group meets in the morning or the afternoon and each group has three periods with 10 minute breaks in between). Anyway, the salary is 6500 + a 1200 meal stipend + they put me up in a nice hotel. However, I'm hanging around next year at my current school so I'll just stay in my apartment for FREE (thanks school of mine!) but I did convince my summer employer to pay me an extra 1000 to cover the "expense" of paying my (nonexistent) rent for the month. He approved it without blinking an eye.

(Truth be told, when I was first negotiating for the summer job I did fully expect to have to pay rent on my apartment while I wasn't working - - my current school offered me free rent if I signed a second year contract - - that's pretty cool!)

So, if you break it all down, it's not a ton of money per period, but I generally don't find summer jobs as tedious or as difficult as an ongoing 10-month gig and I'll be much too busy to spend all this cashola!

[naturegirl321]

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