Job Discussion Forums

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

Zero hours and life on the bread line still the norm?

depechemodefan1966 · Joined: 31 Jan 2015 Posts: 71

Yep, sure is Dragonpiwo!

Doubt very much I will work there again, unless it's a short summer stint.

I was recently offered a couple of positions - one in Katowice and one in Warsaw. Both of them was a 30 hour week, with the Katowice one requiring teachers to work Saturday mornings. Both schools were paying 3,000 zl a month net, which included all holiday pay, but without a flat.

Both schools tried to fob me off by saying that Poland is a cheap country to live. Yes, it was ten years ago, but not any more. Prices for food, clothes and petrol is just about the same there now as in the rest of the EU. The very slight difference in prices is certainly no match for the big difference in salaries.

I am now earning close to the same as 6,000 zl a month net, for a 25 hour, no Saturday week, with a 60 metre beach-side flat for 300 euros a month.

So, yep, Poland is just holidays for me now. I'm afraid will things will definitely not change anytime soon.

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

The golden days were the 90s. You could easily make 6 or 7 k back then and god it was cheap. Native speakers are 10 a penny there now in the big cities. I have a house and flat there, so when I retire, which will be quite soon, we'll be heading back. To be honest, it's only family ties that will make us settle there. My wife's very close to her sister and the kids and I have a son there. It's way better here in the UAE where I'm a Learning and Development Coordinator for a large petrochem company. Life's hard in Poland, people aren't so nice and the work's such a scramble. I always found working there stressful, not the teaching but the getting paid and messed around. The country's come a long way but nice things are way overpriced there. Funnily enough, there's a huge Polish community in the UAE. Most of our friends are Polish and they seem way happier here than there. Most say they're never going back to Poland and many are aghast at PiS and the political climate. From afar, Poland's a bit of a backward country in many ways. As far as I'm concerned it really isn't a teaching destination any more. Funnily enough, I've got a Polish veteran's CV in my inbox and we'll take him I think.

depechemodefan1966 · Joined: 31 Jan 2015 Posts: 71

I'm currently back in Poland for the Christmas holidays and to spend time with friends.

I can now compare the prices to where I am now, and in-all-honesty, they're just about the same, with a little difference.

However with my current net salary, I would be extremely lucky to get brutto in Poland. I would certainly have to work a lot more hours than I do now.

It's all very sad, isn't it?

sparks · Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632

I'm still here. In Warsaw, I don't work for a school but charge a minimum of 100 zl/hr. more if I think I can squeeze a business. I have more students than I can handle from morning to night. I don't particularly like Poland anymore, for many of the reasons mentioned. I would say 10k/month is a minimum amount to be making but even that isn't so great. Really, for more than a year or so, Poland gets to be a drag.