Job Discussion Forums

[Chris33166]

Hi everyone,

With the new visa regulations, I've been hearing a lot of talk about universities having to increase salaries to attract enough teachers. I've heard this from 4-5 teachers in the city I'm teaching in (Hangzhou). However, recent job ads don't support what I've heard...

I don't actively follow the job market here (I'm actually pretty satisfied with my job and the pay) but I'm curious and I think discussion about this could be beneficial.

Some of you seem to actively follow the job market in China, and I'm wondering if you've also heard about or seen an increase in university salaries. If I hear anything more concrete, of course I will share.

[rioux]

Wages seem stagnant.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

Check listings on abroadchina.org. It shows job openings throughout China. I just looked a few schools where I taught years ago, and I was surprised to see that ADVERTISED salaries have risen substantially. These schools are not in major metropolitan areas. My personal experience is that most public university salaries haven't risen in five years.

NOTE: This is not an endorsement of referenced website.

[Voyeur]

It does seem easier to find advertisements for higher salary jobs.

What that actually means statistically is hard to say.

[jimpellow]

I would assume that salaries are rising in some universities due to the reduced supply of teachers.

Yet as someone wisely put it in a recent post on another board, "China does not follow natural demand-supply fundamentals". It follows that there are still some employers who still do not get what has been occurring, and/or will never get it.

[Chris33166]

Very mixed replies so far... and that is exactly what I have seen, as well. Seems typical is 5000-9000/month, and that doesn't seem changed from a few years ago. However, it is more common to see 10+/month advertised.... it might suggest an increase is the the overall trend.

Perhaps one day (soon?), the universities/employers who continue offering stagnant salaries will have difficulties attracting candidates. I hope that is the case!

Can anyone else weigh in on the current trends?

[Mixal]

Yes, you see some 10k offers nowadays, but it's always it's either a tier III city and below or it's "in a big city", while in fact a campus is in the middle of nowhere more than an hour away. The prime example is NUIST in Nanjing. Just two years ago they offered 6-7k, now it's 10k (before tax). They still advertise all the time and I guess the only reason is the remote location.

However, Beijing seems to be an exception. The university salaries over there sound very high on paper.

Another thing to take into consideration is that less and less universities offer fully paid holidays (instead you are offered summer or winter "bonus" which is just a fraction of your monthly salary) and in some cases flight reimbursements went from 10k to 8k or even 6k, so the salary increase is relative. Also, I am seeing more and more university positions with 20 teaching hours compared to the standard 14-16 per week.

[Kalkstein]

I can only talk about my tier 3 city specifically but 100% they have risen about 20-30% in a few years.

A close friend of my partner who is a recruiter has blatantly told me I can pretty much ask for what I want these days because it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a native with a BA who wants to work here. The job adverts are slowly beginning to reflect this but many recruiters/institutes still try to hire on old advertised salaries... and fail miserably to do so. Replacement times have went from several months to 6-months-1 year.

I know four public universities and exactly what they pay their teachers because I just like to make it my business. I'm not going to say who is who but me and my good friend are among these salaries.

10k no advertisement aquired through a friend.
9k (advertised at 7k)
13.5k (advertised at 12-15k)
10k (advertised at 7-10k)

This might not be the case in other big cities but even still a lot of these universities are struggling to attract decent talent and people who want to stay long term. You can ask for salary raises and it should be possible to another 20% on top of these if you extend your contract.

From what I've seen though this doesn't only apply to university jobs though, the schools here are also having a hard time.

[Chris33166]

I took a look abroadchina.org and the jobs posted for Zhejiang province suggest no increase in salary...

Thanks for posting salaries for the Tier III city!

Now that I've posted, I've become even more curious, so I asked around a bit - here's what I've learned for Hangzhou (tier II city, but soon to be tier I)

7k/month - maxed out; has been at same uni for 6 years - paid 12 months/year

9k/month - been at same uni for 3 years (at least 10 years experience teaching)

13k/month - 2 years teaching experience, first year at this uni; has a MA in English

20k/month - 10 years teaching experience, first year in China, has a MA TESOL

Everyone is paid 10 months/year except for the first one. All over the place, but it seems the MA degree pays. Can't generalize with such a small sample size, though.


I'd like to keep the tally going! I'll likely ask more teachers over time... I also like making it my business to know.

[Ferto]

27K Paid twelve months a year, plus good health care, a moving allowance, annual travel, and a solid housing allowance.

MA - 20 years experience

[The bear]

[coffeespoonman]

Yes, at my university, overall salaries are on the rise although it's getting harder for new hires to reach the higher levels.

Edited to remove salary information. Didn't mean to offend - just trying to answer the question with specifics. [/i]

[nimadecaomei]

I believe the question was are salaries increasing. No one asked to post your pay.

[Jmbf]

[The bear]