Job Discussion Forums

[PAULH]

What are newbies getting paid in base pay these days?

I just want to get an idea of what the average starting salary for a full time employee is of a teacher at NOVA, ECC, GEOS or Berlitz.
In the past it used to be 250,000 yen a month but now many companies are paying much less and it would be interesting to see what teachers are getting paid nowadays

[Glenski]

I would add to Paul's poll that people clarify what they get for such a base wage. That is, do you get 220,000 yen/month, plus 15,000 for housing, plus a bonus for a special geographic location?

[Jon Taylor]

2,500,000 basic + 120,000 overtime (guarenteed)

- 60,000 housing - 20,000 tax

Total (minus deductions) = 290,000 (net)

Total hours worked (inc teaching/travel/prep/overtime/time in school) = 27.5 hours per week

None of the big four and a 1st year contract in Japan.

[Zzonkmiles]

When I was working at NOVA MM, my salary was as follows:

Base salary: 250,000
Qualification allowance (MA): 5000
Shift allowance: 32,500
Travel reimbursement: 5000

So, I was making about 290,000 a month before deductions, which was definitely above average for a general eikaiwa teacher. Deductions were primarily health insurance and taxes. NOVA reduced its base salary to 220,000 a month for all new teachers starting around this past spring. Working at MM allows you to earn a bit more money than working at a NOVA branch because of all the shift allowances available to you (working late shifts, split shifts, overnight shifts, Sundays, etc.). You can earn up to 80,000 yen a month on shift and qualification allowances alone at MM, if the money is what's most important to you.

I think the salaries of the major schools/Big 4 are actually a bit higher than what a lot of these smaller schools are offering as of late. 250,000 yen a month used to be seen as average or even as a minimum salary as recently as last year, I think. But now it seems like the 250-270,000 yen a month starting salary we've often talked about has been replaced by a 220-260,000 salary range. I'm even seeing some 200,000 salaries being advertised.

Not looking good. Those of you who are thinking of coming to Japan for the money might be very disappointed.

[Stosskraft]

I am getting 250 000 a month for a 40 hour work week (28 teaching hours).

No bonuses of any kind.

Rent 46000 minus expenses.

Average take home 180000.

I work in a smaller eikaiwa teaching 4 to 10 year olds.