Job Discussion Forums

[Jon Taylor]

I have asked my students about this and I get differing answers.

The popular answer seems to be 6,000,000 Yen per annum which translates to around 450,000 per month with 2 bonuses of around the same amount.

This seems very high and would make our EFL field a very below average salary.

[canuck]

[G Cthulhu]

Less than thirty seconds on google would have got you an answer:
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c12cont.htm

Table 12.5. Are there really people out there that are surprised that salaries for English teachers are low?! IMO, the _average_ teacher in Japan doesn't deserve much/any more.

[Glenski]

Average wage for what profession, gender, educational level, amount of experience, and age group? Answers will vary.

[Jon Taylor]

[Quibby84]

I work at a very large company and they work about 12 hours a day and start out making about the same as me every year. (but I work SOOOO much less). I think that even $60,000 is not enough for 60 hour work weeks. It seems to me that people with master degrees (like the people I work with) would make alot more in America. My husband graduated from college with just a basic degree and got a starting job paying $30,000 (in louisiana!), his job would have paid more as the years went on, he could have gotten really high even with just his bacholers degree (and he never worked over 40 hours a week). So I think japan is underpaid....

[shuize]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Glenski]

Jon,
Cthulhu has given you a good web page to start looking. I say start, because statistics in Japan are very neatly juggled.

Look here and see what it says for the December 2006 average total earnings. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-l/index.html
613,774 yen/month

Compare to what you see on Cthulhu's government page for 2005:
335,000 yen/month

I doubt that people's income had double on average in a single year. Something is juggled here.

[Jon Taylor]

Thanks Glenski,

That link is really useful......appreciate that.

[c-way]

If I had to guess Glenski, I would think that they might have factored in the bonuses that many employees receive in December. But I don't have any statistics to back that up.

In terms of my salary, if I were to work as much as the average hours, I would be doing far better than the average salary. As it is, I still make more than the average working 126 hours per month, a full 24 hours less than the average Japanese employee.

However, I am able to make this much not by working for my dispatch or for an eikawa, but through private lessons.

Private lessons also provide more flexibility in scheduling, more autonomy in choosing lesson plans and pace, more ability to connect one to one with students and more opportunity to develop relationships outside the classroom (coffeshop).

I'm sure some people have their qualms about the coffee shop private lesson, I know I do. But in terms of salary and job satisfaction, private lessons blow the competition out of the water.( save perhaps university level jobs, I've heard those too are particularly cushy.)

[Glenski]

c-way wrote:

[sidjameson]

but c-way when i used to do privates it always seem to average out that for every hour you work you spend another hour preparing, travelling, getting messed about etc.

Something to factor in.

[ghostrider]

[quote="GambateBingBangBOOM"]

[Peter_Chestnut]