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Is your hagwon shedding jobs?
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ssuprnova



Joined: 17 Dec 2010
Location: Saigon

PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:30 pm    Post subject: Is your hagwon shedding jobs? Reply with quote

Is it just me or are hagwons shedding jobs these days? My school has gone from 4 NETs to just two, with no major change in enrollment. They just shuffled more people into the existing classes.

Also, due to the new regulations our classes are getting longer and longer. Even though I teach 80 classes per month, it actually works out to 120 x 45-minutes (that used to be the normal length of our classes when I first started).

Anyway, I don't want to start another "why you should not teach in Korea" thread, but between the stagnant wages and the plummeting won (1200 yesterday!), methinks it's time to head for the door.
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sml7285



Joined: 26 Apr 2012

PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Is your hagwon shedding jobs? Reply with quote

ssuprnova wrote:
Anyway, I don't want to start another "why you should not teach in Korea" thread, but between the stagnant wages and the plummeting won (1200 yesterday!), methinks it's time to head for the door.


Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Is your hagwon shedding jobs? Reply with quote

sml7285 wrote:
ssuprnova wrote:
Anyway, I don't want to start another "why you should not teach in Korea" thread, but between the stagnant wages and the plummeting won (1200 yesterday!), methinks it's time to head for the door.


Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.



Nope. It wasn't even 10%.

http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120523001070&cpv=0

Quote:
Iranian oil accounted for 9.4 percent of Korea�s crude oil imports ― or 87 million barrels out of the total 930 million barrels ― last year.
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sml7285



Joined: 26 Apr 2012

PostPosted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:16 am    Post subject: Re: Is your hagwon shedding jobs? Reply with quote

TheUrbanMyth wrote:
sml7285 wrote:
ssuprnova wrote:
Anyway, I don't want to start another "why you should not teach in Korea" thread, but between the stagnant wages and the plummeting won (1200 yesterday!), methinks it's time to head for the door.


Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.



Nope. It wasn't even 10%.

http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120523001070&cpv=0

Quote:
Iranian oil accounted for 9.4 percent of Korea�s crude oil imports ― or 87 million barrels out of the total 930 million barrels ― last year.


I stand corrected. Still a major source of oil and one of the primary reasons why the Won is doing so poorly.
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bobbybigfoot



Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Our schools are shrinking, with many being about half the size they were four years ago. Consequently, a proportionate amount of teachers have left also. Their contracts just not renewed.
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NYC_Gal 2.0



Joined: 10 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My school has doubled enrollment, so we've recently taken on another teacher.
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Chimie



Joined: 05 Oct 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My school has gone from 9->12 FTs in the last 2 semesters. We've also had quite the enrollment increase.
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Julius



Joined: 27 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:21 am    Post subject: Re: Is your hagwon shedding jobs? Reply with quote

ssuprnova wrote:
Is it just me or are hagwons shedding jobs these days? My school has gone from 4 NETs to just two, with no major change in enrollment. They just shuffled more people into the existing classes.

Also, due to the new regulations our classes are getting longer and longer. Even though I teach 80 classes per month, it actually works out to 120 x 45-minutes (that used to be the normal length of our classes when I first started)..


Snap.

Exactly what I've noticed too.

Some of it is seasonal though of course.
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mike in brasil



Joined: 09 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My friend works at a kiddy hogwan and at last week's meeting the owner gave the announcement that enrollment is down and job cuts and shorter hours are coming.
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Julius



Joined: 27 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mike in brasil wrote:
My friend works at a kiddy hogwan and at last week's meeting the owner gave the announcement that enrollment is down and job cuts and shorter hours are coming.


Thing is though, hagwons have been doing this for years. There is not a single hogwon boss out there who will not try to squeeze more for less, and give some inane excuse for doing so. They'd be daft not to.

They pull this one out the hat whenever they sense they can get away with it. Like when their employee has only 2 months left on their contract and isn't going to make a fuss.
Or when they are swamped with applicants.

They also do it every summer when enrollment drops off.
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Hokie21



Joined: 01 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The hagwon I recently completed my contract with is growing....they actually just moved into a new building and hired an additional teacher to handle the increase. They are now up to 12 foreign teachers.
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12ax7



Joined: 07 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Julius is right about it happening every summer when the nice weather comes along.

The pattern was already obvious when I worked at a hagwon many, many years ago.

With the nicer weather, kids aren't as motivated to study. Some will whine about going to hagwons until they wear down their parents. Quite a few parents relent.
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cincynate



Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Location: Jeju-do, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.


Actually the won is about to fall significantly against the dollar. The Bank of Korea indicated they will lower interest rates in Korea, which will lead to massive capital outflows from Korea, and the won will fall. Send your money home soon!
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12ax7



Joined: 07 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cincynate wrote:
Quote:
Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.


Actually the won is about to fall significantly against the dollar. The Bank of Korea indicated they will lower interest rates in Korea, which will lead to massive capital outflows from Korea, and the won will fall. Send your money home soon!


Actually, it's a good thing. For one, it means increased foreign investment. Moreover, it makes South Korean imports even more competitive against Japanese products than they already are because value of the yen keeps rising as people continue to find a more stable alternative to the Euro. Long story short, this will be good for those of us who own businesses and real estate here. The economy will grow and a greater number of people will seek to invest in real estate as banks will offer lower mortgage rates and lower interest rates on deposits.
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sml7285



Joined: 26 Apr 2012

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cincynate wrote:
Quote:
Can't speak for the wages, but the won should strengthen up a bit as soon as South Korea gains a new source of oil or US led sanctions against Iran are dropped. I know that something like 15-20% of Korea's oil came from Iran pre-sanctions.


Actually the won is about to fall significantly against the dollar. The Bank of Korea indicated they will lower interest rates in Korea, which will lead to massive capital outflows from Korea, and the won will fall. Send your money home soon!


-_-

Not that simple. Government intervention these days doesn't affect currency value as much as geopolitics. Keynesian theory is a bit outdated as the model doesn't work so well in the modern climate where there are more than 4-5 developed nations.
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