|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:56 pm Post subject: Re: Huge rise in firings? |
 |
|
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
I can help but notice there has been a big increase in people getting canned lately. I'm in touch with a few local hagwons myself and the firings have been relentless this year. One school with 13 teachers, 6 were fired this year. It's like Koreans suddenly discovered they could fire people and can't get enough of it.
What about you? You heard of a lot more firings this year from your connections, not just stuff you've read on Dave's? |
I can't really say. I just know of a guy who has only been here for about a month, and he was canned. He said his lesson didn't go well. He claimed he wasn't given much of a chance. That's hearsay. I don't know the guy well, so that's all I can say. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
| I don't see how a Korean-American doesn't fit into the three categories I laid out. |
By all means then, man - back up your claim.
Show us all how MOST people on this board are Korean American and not living in Korea, not in education, and are not able to read your questions properly?
Or are you simply talking out of yer arse? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
| I don't see how a Korean-American doesn't fit into the three categories I laid out. |
By all means then, man - back up your claim.
Show us all how MOST people on this board are Korean American and not living in Korea, not in education, and are not able to read your questions properly?
Or are you simply talking out of yer arse? |
This is a teachers and recruiters board, right? Which one are you, Captain Corea?
BTW, the subject is firings, not who is what, but while the point was raised why not answer that question? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm an occasional teacher living in Korea (for the past 10+ years). Not a Korean American posting from overseas.
As to the point of the OP's post - no, I have not seen a risein firings amongst the ppl I know teaching here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
viciousdinosaur
Joined: 30 Apr 2012
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'd love to post a poll to settle the matter, but I'm pretty sure the mods would ban me for trolling.
"Occasional teacher" sounds remarkably close to "not involved in education". Or at least not involved in public schools and hagwons, where said firing would be rampaging. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rchristo10
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
I'd love to post a poll to settle the matter, but I'm pretty sure the mods would ban me for trolling.
"Occasional teacher" sounds remarkably close to "not involved in education". Or at least not involved in public schools and hagwons, where said firing would be rampaging. |
+1; "Occasional teacher" sounded like illegal tutor to me. But yes, a person who obviously isn't in the loop yet going through all the motions of pretending he's privy. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't care if someone outside of ESL is posting on the 90% of the threads on this board that deal with living in Korea. Those threads can sometimes use some voices of experience, even if the main posters are not involved in ESL in Korea. But this thread's topic is one that applies to teachers and if anyone wants to come down on others as harshly as a couple have, then, yeah, then they should be teachers or recruiters or someone who is in the ESL field. And stick to the topic, please. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
I'd love to post a poll to settle the matter, but I'm pretty sure the mods would ban me for trolling.
"Occasional teacher" sounds remarkably close to "not involved in education". Or at least not involved in public schools and hagwons, where said firing would be rampaging. |
Occasional teacher means that I'm on an F5 and I can work wherever I please. If I see a class I want, I take it. If not, I've gone for stretches without teaching.
| rchristo10 wrote: |
| +1; "Occasional teacher" sounded like illegal tutor to me. But yes, a person who obviously isn't in the loop yet going through all the motions of pretending he's privy. |
Riiiggghhhttt... or, you simply don't know that there are other options out there. Read above. Note the visa. Understand?
| sojusucks wrote: |
| I don't care if someone outside of ESL is posting on the 90% of the threads on this board that deal with living in Korea. Those threads can sometimes use some voices of experience, even if the main posters are not involved in ESL in Korea. But this thread's topic is one that applies to teachers and if anyone wants to come down on others as harshly as a couple have, then, yeah, then they should be teachers or recruiters or someone who is in the ESL field. And stick to the topic, please. |
Chances are that my 10+ years in Korea teaching in various areas qualifies me to have an opinion. Now, if you disagree with something I've said, by all means, point it out. But if not, feel free to stay on topic. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tiger fancini
Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I teach, and I know quite a lot of teachers. None of us have noticed any significant increase in firings. I would also imagine that among the teachers who do get fired, a fair number of them are probably fired for fair reasons. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
I'd love to post a poll to settle the matter, but I'm pretty sure the mods would ban me for trolling.
"Occasional teacher" sounds remarkably close to "not involved in education". Or at least not involved in public schools and hagwons, where said firing would be rampaging. |
Occasional teacher means that I'm on an F5 and I can work wherever I please. If I see a class I want, I take it. If not, I've gone for stretches without teaching.
| rchristo10 wrote: |
| +1; "Occasional teacher" sounded like illegal tutor to me. But yes, a person who obviously isn't in the loop yet going through all the motions of pretending he's privy. |
Riiiggghhhttt... or, you simply don't know that there are other options out there. Read above. Note the visa. Understand?
| sojusucks wrote: |
| I don't care if someone outside of ESL is posting on the 90% of the threads on this board that deal with living in Korea. Those threads can sometimes use some voices of experience, even if the main posters are not involved in ESL in Korea. But this thread's topic is one that applies to teachers and if anyone wants to come down on others as harshly as a couple have, then, yeah, then they should be teachers or recruiters or someone who is in the ESL field. And stick to the topic, please. |
Chances are that my 10+ years in Korea teaching in various areas qualifies me to have an opinion. Now, if you disagree with something I've said, by all means, point it out. But if not, feel free to stay on topic. |
Uh, so you are in touch with the ESL industry? So, do you think that more teachers are getting fired? SMOE is about to eliminate many positions but that's not the same as firing them. Last year many GEPIK teachers were fired, mid-contract, while GEPIK had to deal with some coordinators who used insider info to their advantages, and posted it all over their blogs. At least that's the scuttlebutt around GEPIK. As for hagwons, they are up to their usual tricks. How say you? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Another 'the sky is falling' thread.
To put things in perspective for you, there were about 5000 E-2 visas issued the year I came to Korea (and an another 5000 to 10000 working illegally). Since then, the number has grown to almost 25 000 E-2 visas issued per year.
In my town, we went from 12 ESL teachers total (hagwon, university, EPIK) back in those days to close to a hundred now.
So, no, if you look at the stats, it's clear that hagwons aren't firing people left and right. It might just seem like it because in your town the market might be overly saturated, and so some schools are forced to close or trim down their costs in order to keep their doors open. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sojusucks wrote: |
| Uh, so you are in touch with the ESL industry? So, do you think that more teachers are getting fired? SMOE is about to eliminate many positions but that's not the same as firing them. Last year many GEPIK teachers were fired, mid-contract, while GEPIK had to deal with some coordinators who used insider info to their advantages, and posted it all over their blogs. At least that's the scuttlebutt around GEPIK. As for hagwons, they are up to their usual tricks. How say you? |
I've already answered that question in a previous post. If you weren't so concerned with vetting me, you would have noticed it.
In the 10+ years I've been here, I've seen a fairly large climb in teacher numbers. Obviously, there was a very public gov push a few years ago, and now that seems to be abating due to differences in budget allocation.
FWIW, I voted against the current Ed Administrator that favors free school lunches for all over other programs.
From personal anecdotes, no, I haven't heard of mass firings amongst teachers. Those that I know that are still in PS schools, hogwons, and Unis... are still there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 12:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
| sojusucks wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
I'd love to post a poll to settle the matter, but I'm pretty sure the mods would ban me for trolling.
"Occasional teacher" sounds remarkably close to "not involved in education". Or at least not involved in public schools and hagwons, where said firing would be rampaging. |
Occasional teacher means that I'm on an F5 and I can work wherever I please. If I see a class I want, I take it. If not, I've gone for stretches without teaching.
| rchristo10 wrote: |
| +1; "Occasional teacher" sounded like illegal tutor to me. But yes, a person who obviously isn't in the loop yet going through all the motions of pretending he's privy. |
Riiiggghhhttt... or, you simply don't know that there are other options out there. Read above. Note the visa. Understand?
| sojusucks wrote: |
| I don't care if someone outside of ESL is posting on the 90% of the threads on this board that deal with living in Korea. Those threads can sometimes use some voices of experience, even if the main posters are not involved in ESL in Korea. But this thread's topic is one that applies to teachers and if anyone wants to come down on others as harshly as a couple have, then, yeah, then they should be teachers or recruiters or someone who is in the ESL field. And stick to the topic, please. |
Chances are that my 10+ years in Korea teaching in various areas qualifies me to have an opinion. Now, if you disagree with something I've said, by all means, point it out. But if not, feel free to stay on topic. |
Uh, so you are in touch with the ESL industry? So, do you think that more teachers are getting fired? SMOE is about to eliminate many positions but that's not the same as firing them. Last year many GEPIK teachers were fired, mid-contract, while GEPIK had to deal with some coordinators who used insider info to their advantages, and posted it all over their blogs. At least that's the scuttlebutt around GEPIK. As for hagwons, they are up to their usual tricks. How say you? |
Imagine that, a system built on one-year contracts leads to high turnover. Baffles the mind.
And, no, they are not "about to eliminate many positions". They were supposedly going to do it in 2014, last time I checked. That's after Lee Myung Bak, the guy who back in 2008 wanted every school to teach English immersion (and was rightfully criticized for the plan), will no longer be the president. See what I'm getting at? Yes, English education is a major political and ideological issue in Korea, an easy target for politicians who want to create an image for themselves as, on one side, promoting globalization and, on the other, protecting Korean culture from it.
Besides, do you really think parents are going to be okay with that, especially now that the government has imposed curfews on hagwons? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
viciousdinosaur
Joined: 30 Apr 2012
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 1:20 am Post subject: |
|
|
So it seems nobody knows anything. Thanks guys. I already know jobs are disappearing. I can see that in the government statistics. I just wanted to get a sense of how people are experiencing it on the ground.
In 2010 there were 23,600 on E2. Today there is 22,100. There's been a net loss of 1,500 jobs for E2 in the past two years.
It's likely this is being made up the increase in numbers of F4 and F6.
People on F4 went from 69,000 in 2010 to 171,000 today. Although its hard to know how many of them are teaching since the government counts them as being Korean.
No one can look at those numbers and argue that the industry here is growing for foreigners. I expect the cuts will continue for the next five years, but after that it won't matter so much since the US economy will start recovering by then, and even starting wages in China will beat Korea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 1:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
So it seems nobody knows anything. Thanks guys. I already know jobs are disappearing. I can see that in the government statistics. I just wanted to get a sense of how people are experiencing it on the ground.
In 2010 there were 23,600 on E2. Today there is 22,100. There's been a net loss of 1,500 jobs for E2 in the past two years.
It's likely this is being made up the increase in numbers of F4 and F6.
People on F4 went from 69,000 in 2010 to 171,000 today. Although its hard to know how many of them are teaching since the government counts them as being Korean.
No one can look at those numbers and argue that the industry here is growing for foreigners. I expect the cuts will continue for the next five years, but after that it won't matter so much since the US economy will start recovering by then, and even starting wages in China will beat Korea. |
Did you check the number of E1's? Universities are switching their teachers from E2 to E1 because they can get more government subsidies that way (an E2 can't be on the tenure track, but an E1 can). The visa application process is, I've been told, a lot simpler, too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
