Job Discussion Forums

[william wallace]

nothing to say.

[scot47]

In Saudi Arabia salaries are the same as they were 15 or 20 years ago. In some cases lower. Hourly rate for overtime is still around 100 riyals an hour. Sheeesh !

[Sherri]

I've been in Japan for going on 12 years and the salaries have remained pretty much the same, if anything they are falling a little. Of course this is due to the poor economy after the bubble. There is deflation here so prices in general have never been so low, at least in my memory. As for getting a higher salary, it is possible, but probably not for someone job searching from abroad with no contacts. The higher salary will come when you are here first, get yourself established (and get a work visa), make friends and contacts, then you will be in a better position to find a higher paying job. Here in Tokyo I would estimate that it would take at least a year before you would be able to move significantly beyond the 250 range, but of course it could be sooner, it could be later, it also depends on you, your qualifications and work experience.

[Glenski]

william,

Sadly, the baseline salary for language school teachers in Japan has not changed in years. 250,000 is pretty much what you can expect to get in most places. (Exceptions abound, so other readers please take note I am stating a general wage.) Why wages have stayed relatively flat is anyone's speculation. I have my own, but stating them is not the purpose of this post.

If you want something more like 300,000 or 350,000 yen/month (at least, I think this is what you were asking), that sort of wage is out there, but fairly rare in language school circles. You'll have to get into a high school for such a thing. Universities pay even higher, but you'll need a master's degree and publications to get in.

A search on www.ohayosensei.com from an old file showed me no surprise. Most jobs with monthly salaries (as opposed to hourly wages) were for 250,000 (sometimes even less). A handful higher than that looked something like this:
BI-LINGUAL LANGUAGE LEARNING ADVISOR.
Full-time, 9-5, 5 days/week. 314,000yen/month.

NATIVE ENGLISH INSRUCTOR.
Full-time. 285,000yen/month. Teach kids from 0-9 years. Native
English speaker and BA required. Holidays, Position located in West
Tokyo area.

ENGLISH TEACHERS (3).
Full-time, 16-18 hours/week, 17 classes/week, 8-3 weekdays.
290-300,000yen/month. Two positions: high school solo-teaching
Communication to 1st, 2nd, 3rd year students; class size 15-20. One
position: junior high school solo-teaching conversation classes;
class size 12-15.

NATIVE ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR.
Full- (280,000yen/month; BA required) and part-time (3000yen/lesson),
"Working on Saturdays is welcome." Teach English conversation.

NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER.
Full-time, 40 hours/week. 250-300,000yen/month. Teach ages 1-6.
Proper visa, BA (TESL preferred), experience teaching ESL/EFL and
native English speaker required. APPLICANT MUST CURRENTLY RESIDE IN JAPAN. Position located in Shizuoka.

INSTRUCTOR.
Full-time, 25-30 hours/week. 250-320,000yen/month. Teach English at a
kindergarten with a Japanese teacher. Intermediate-advanced Japanese
ability required. Teaching experience with children or early
childhood education background preferred. Sponsorship available.
Transportation. Position located in Osaka school.

EFL INSTRUCTOR.
Full-time, 5 days/week, 36 hours/week, 20 classes/week.
280-300,000yen/month. Teach English to elementary school children
using published and in-house textbooks, and teach "listening" classes
to junior high students using in-house textbooks. University degree,
one year teaching experience in Japan, and Japanese speaking ability
(daily communication level) required. MA, TESL/ESL, or RSA
certification and familiarity with English instruction within the
Japanese public school system preferred.

ENGLISH TEACHER.
Full-time, 9am-6pm, Mon-Fri, 40 hours/week, 25 forty-minute
classes/week. 3,600,000yen/year. Organize and run English program for
kids aged 3-12 years. Teaching and curriculum development for over
200 children. BA/BS (arts, languages, teaching-related preferred),
one year teaching experience in Japan and basic conversational
Japanese speaking ability required.

ENGLISH TEACHER.
Full-time, 82+ contact hours/month. 350,000yen/month. Write
curriculum, develop materials for, and teach EFL to community course
students of all levels from young children to adults; teach
concurrent residential immersion programs for high school students
(large groups) and business professionals (small groups); prepare and
conduct classes during a one-week summer workshop for teachers of
English; and plan and participate in extracurricular activities.
University degree, two years experience teaching both adults and
children, and excellent writing skills required. MA preferred.

Granted, you may find similar jobs for the 250,000/month pay, but it seems that those looking for higher paid jobs will have to do more than just teach typical conversation classes and/or have some real teaching credentials instead of what eikaiwas accept. The above listings were from February this year and included all of the listings over 270,000.

If you want to look in other sites and compare, you will have to learn what they are called. "Gaijinpost" is probably www.gaijinpot.com. Another good site is www.eltnews.com. So is www.jobsinjapan.com.

[ruggedtoast]

Bear iin mind that the average Japanese isnt paid that much either, esl is actually a pretty good job here. I know that none of my Japanese friends offered me much sympathy when I complained about my "low" pay in my job which required me to do no unpaid overtime.

They save money by living with theor parents and commuting for 5 hours a day though, so may end up better off than you.

[PAULH]

Bear in mind also that most Japanese do not have one year contracts to deal with, they get their health and medical insurance paid for if they are full time, and if they want to take a trip home to see their parents it doesnt involve international travel across several time zones requiring a plane ticket costing several thousand dollars.

[nakanoalien2]

"Bear iin mind that the average Japanese isnt paid that much either, esl is actually a pretty good job here"

I can't totally agree. I think this would depend on what kind of work you are comparing esl to. If you are talking about the average Japanese freshman at a company, I would say ESL teachers make a similar salary (but with less benefits). If you are talking about a Japanese teacher, it probably depends on age. To give you an idea, I am hiring researchers (no experience) for about 3.5 - 4 mil per year including bonus with various benefits. I've been told that this is about what a recent college grad expects regardless of industry.

I would agree more with Sherri's comments.

I think the important thing to look at is the rate of inflation. Last year in Japan it was about -1%. That means your purchasing power actually increased even with no raise (you are making the same money, but prices are lower). I am used to year-on-year raises because I am from the US where inflation tends to run about 3-4%. So it sounds weird not to see salaries increase over 5 or more years, but it really depends on inflation and other factors (below).

With no inflation or deflation, there is no reason to pay more unless:

-demand for teachers increases (I think this market is pretty saturated) -OR-
-supply of teachers decreases (not happening judging by this site)

-OR-
-there are gains in productivity that make the individual more valuable and harer to replace (i.e. experience counts)

[Glenski]

For endless statistics on labor and wages, try this web site.

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-l/index.html