Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jay-shi]

I made a post recently with the same topic title, except it wasn't as bad.

How much further down do you see the won dropping? How much purchasing power, back home, have you lost in the last year?

[Mr. Pink]

It jumps around like crazy because of how unstable this currency is.

Like 2-3 weeks ago it was 950-970.

On $1000 you aren't losing much if you buy at the right time.

The Canadian dollar is very strong atm and has been for over a year now.

[kimchipig]

I know it is a long time ago, but when I was teaching in Korea in 1994, I paid W520 for a Canadian dollar. I made W1.4m at my job and another W600k teaching two private classes a day. I paid no taxes or deductions. A taxi was W1000, dinner the same and the bus W360.

At the rates of the time, the base salary was just under $2700 a month and the privates worth an extra $1150. I was making just under $4k a month and had a free apartment. I had no problem living large and saving $3000 a month.

I haven't seen salaries in Korea go up much since then, certainly not anywhere near the increases of the cost of living there. With a reasonable job and a couple of privates you can make W3m now without killing yourself. That is still not bad. You can live fairly well and save $1000 a month.

But I teach private lessons in Vancouver for a minimum of $35 an hour and save more than that. I wonder how worth it is anymore.

[KoreanAmbition]

Is this a good example?

Seoul, Korea
Base salary 3,000,000 won per month is attainable.
Work overtime to earn 1,000,000 extra per month.
Total monthly salary is 4,000,000 won.
Total annual salary, (with severance) is 51,000,000 won.

Disposble Income = $50,000 CAD (pension incl.) and housing is FREE.



Toronto, Canada
Annual salary $90,000.
After income taxes, govt pension and EI, your net income is $62,000.
Mediocre Rent @ $1000 /month = $12000.

Disposable Income = $50,000 CAD and housing has been paid.


Living costs in Canada > Living costs in Korea.

University job in Korea = 3 months vacation (or more).
Job in Toronto gives 2 or 3 weeks of vacation.

Overview:

1) Good luck finding a job in Toronto that pays $90,000. They aren't handing them out on the street corners.

2) If you do get an analyst job at a bank that pays $90,000 or $100,000, you're working 80 hours a week minimum.

3) 1,000,000 won overtime is like 5-8 hours a week depending on the rate. Say 8 hours per week. So total maybe 40 or 45 hours a week of work and prep time?

4) Work the 60 to 80 hours in Korea that MUST be worked to earn $90,000 in Toronto as a near starting salary. How much OT would you earn in Korea and where would your salary be?


I think Korea is very worth it. But just my opinion.

[kimchipig]

[KoreanAmbition]

Kimchipig,

My wife and have MBA's and searching in Vancouver for jobs that pay $90,000 hasn't been something we are finding a lot of success in.

With regards to me not listing deductions for the Korean job example, the reason is because my employer will match pension deductions, which in essence will cover the taxes and medical insurance that I have to pay. Although I get it back when I finally leave Korea, I just count that I get it back and therefore count it into the salary.

Now, with all your comments, I have to say, I do agree with a fair bit. We do want to return to Canada after Asia, and we are thinking of setting up shop in Vancouver.

However, for us, the goal is to be located within Asia because we are there for international business purposes. We are there to learn markets, save capital, and be around opportunities. In a few years (or less) we'll go into China and really make a push into developing entrepreneurial ventures that we have planned.

If we are lucky enough to get sustainable operations in order, then we'll start planning to relocate possibly to Vancouver and deal with things on an international level.


Would you mind telling me a bit about your experiences teaching English in Vancouver? I'm not a teacher, so I'm not sure if I can do what you're able to.

Anyways, I also sent you a PM. I'd be interested to hear some of your opinions on what I wrote.

Thanks for sharing your opinions,
Cheers.

[Cheonmunka]

I am not so sure that there is a recession or tightening on the way in Korea. However, I've noticed that the deposit interest rates have crept up from five to seven percent in the last year.
I've only heard good prospects for Korea for the next few years from economists.
I haven't heard anything like that when it comes to NZ, which is very similar to Canada and Aus's historic rates of exchange and interest rates. The present message from NZ is doom and gloom - yet, at present like Canada the exchange is way up and out of the ordinary with every dealer in the World escaping the USD and throwing their carry trade deposits in for the near 10% interest.
But, NZ has 50% of businesses predicting a recession. How about Canada?

It seems Korea might be playing a middle ground. I'll trickle my KRW over bit by bit but not all at once.

[kimchipig]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

My annual salary has gone down around $6,000Cdn in the past year.

[marlow]

[I-am-me]

Why is Canada begging for workers? Is there a labor shortage there? I have seen many ads for workers to go to Canada so it makes me wonder why so many Canadians come to Korea to work?

[KoreanAmbition]

I-am-me....

Just because there are jobs does not mean that "you" want that job.


As kimchi said above, the economy is still going strong, and places like Saskatchewan are BOOMING with oil sands deposits being discovered still. They need workers, so the salaries and wages go up.

Now, for me, I don't necessarily want to work everywhere in Canada that there are jobs at this moment.

I want to travel Asia. I want to try to get some business going in Asia. I can always return to Canada.

Kimchi made a good point above about opportunity cost of doing that, and I have to admit that my wife and I are taking that into account. At the same time, we are much closer to Australia, NZ, Japan, Fiji/Tahiti, Thailand, China, etc etc, and over the next bunch of years we plan to do a ton of travelling. From Canada, those flight prices are just ridiculous and in Canada I'm not exactly gonna be getting the 14 weeks of vacation I'm getting at my university job in Seoul.

Lots of vacation time, proximity for travelling, a good salary, and a strengthening/developing Asian economy are all reasons why I personally want to go into Korea now, and then China.

However, Kimchi also uses 20/20 hindset in his comments about missing out on his housing boom.

For me, I don't have the money to buy a house to let it appreciate at this moment since I have to pay for my master degree, and my wife's master degree also. LOL

I'm 31...so not young, not old either though. I want to learn to speak Mandarin for business reasons and will really benefit from being in the middle of the culture. As for speaking Korea, my wife might learn it (she's Chinese so she already speaks fluent Mandarin, as well as near-fluent English).

There are a lot of benefits to Canadians for attaining international experience, especially in these markets. We are both MBA grads so this is our field, and we're not necessarily coming to Asia just to be teachers. My wife won't teach at all, she's coming for business. And as for me, the education industry is where I want to develop business so I'm throwing myself into the middle of it.


Kimchi, what kind of business are you running? Did you start it in Korea, or Canada upon your return?

As for the Canadian markets...economists are thinking we're not going to fall into the recession the US will be dealing with. There are talks that the Canadian dollar could fall a bit and the US dollar will strengthen in the next 6 months. But that's speculation.

I'm looking into getting a Swiss bank account and putting all my money into Euros and just holding them as that currency. Many analysts consider the Euro to be one of the strongest and most secure currencies at this time...

Any opinions on the Euro points I made?

Cheers all.

[kimchipig]

[KoreanAmbition]

kimchi,

I haven't been able to find the glowing ESL market you are talking about in Vancouver.

You are saying it pays a lot, can you give me some information on it?

You might be persuading me to come back to Canada sooner than expected.

[kimchipig]