Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cj1976]

My (Korean) girlfriend teaches in a hagwon and I feel she is in a sh1tty situation. Sometimes I p1ss and moan about my public school job, but in comparison to her, I have it easy.
She teaches middle-school and high-school kids on a Mon-Fri basis. However, during certain times in the academic year all staff are required to come in 7 days a week for 4 - 6 weeks, in order to help students prepare for tests.
On the weekends, she sometimes has to come in at 9pm and stay until 4pm - depending on whatever her boss deems appropriate. This weekend she works Fri until 10.30 and has to be back in next morning for 9am.
Also during these times, he will increase teh working day to up to 10 hours. Sometimes she teaches 10 or 11 lessons per day.
Despite the extra hours my GF puts in, she receives absolutely no extra pay!
I know that Korean hagwon teachers do work hard, but is this normal? Do you think she could find a better job elsewhere? I don't really know much about the job-market for Korean nationals so it is difficult for me to give advice to her. She seems to believe that all hagwons are exactly the same, so looking for another job would be pointless.

[cj1976]

I forgot to mention she gets paid 1.5mill per month.

[Smee]

I dunno. My Korean friend took a job at a big company (Doosan, I think) in Gangnam straight out of college. She was basically a secretary, but she was responsible for translating memos and documents between Korean-English-Japanese. She made 1,200,000 a month for a full-time job.

And I've heard---but I can't confirm---that the you see at McDonald's, at Dunkin Donuts, at The Face Shop, or working as clerks, or in coffee shops, make somewhere around 3,000 won an hour.

I've written before about how my hagwon coworkers were often communiting an hour each way to get to work. Many would then complain about how much work they had to do---which, in reality, wasn't any more than the white people had----but when pressed they'd say "It's a better situation than other hagwon." I never understood that. I guess we could level the same charges against them as they press against us. They're temporary workers, often with no experience or training, often with no marketable skills, and with little leverage. The reason we make more is b/c of supply and demand. (Each time a Korean coworker complained about our "free housing," though, I'd remind them that they had free housing, too, since at age 31 they were still living at home.)

[CabbageTownRoyals]

[CabbageTownRoyals]

CJ1976, it is shocking aye, I often feel guilty leaving the office and leaving my Korean coworkers behind. I share an office with all my Korean coworkers too, so that makes it harder.

And it IS mostly women who are affected.

Pay inequality between men and women is horrendous here in Korea, really shocking. And of course its mostly women in these positions (Hogwons, secretaries, receptionists, cafes, bars etc)

Its true about the supply-demand issue/considersation, but despite this, they are still definitely underpaid. Hate to say it, but no wonder Korean women look for rich husbands.

[aristotle84]

is your korean g/f a native english speaker? if she is, then 1.5 million Won for all that work seems to be horrible.

then again, the pasture is always greener on the other side...

[cj1976]

My girlfriend is not a native speaker, but she speaks English very well (which is good because my Korean is poor). However, I just wondered if anyone knew about hagwon work practices from the Korean perspective. I always say to her she should tell the boss to f uck right off and find a better job - but maybe this is normal hagwon life.

[rawiri]

[quote="cj1976"] I always say to her she should tell the boss to f uck right off and find a better job - but maybe this is normal hagwon life.
[/quote]

In my experience that never hppens. It should but it doesnt. Ive seen a head teacher fired because she turned down our bosses adveances after dinner and drinks one night. She just accepted it like it was normal as did all the other teachers round the staff room. Damn i wanted to smash his smarmy face so freakin bad but all i could do was bow down to the *beep* and kiss his butt as well.

[cj1976]

Yeah, makes me sick too. It's amazing how much power these guys wield over their workers. My g/f thinks that if anyone quits, he'll make sure they can't work in any other hagwon in the same town. What a w anker.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[jajdude]

[RachaelRoo]

Would it be possible for your girlfriend to build a clientel of privates? My Korean co-teacher seems to make a lot of money on the side doing that. If her level of English is very high and she's a bit enterprising.....could she earn a comparable salary?

[aek541]

I don't know where ya'll are getting your information from. Not all of its incorrect. My manager just got married and according to her, it is the husbands responsibility to buy the house and its the wife's responsibility to buy everything that goes into the house. The parents don't pay for anything. Maybe they help out from time to time......but nothing big......atleast in her situation.

I work with a mostly Korean staff.....while my hours are 9-6, my coworkers hours are 8-7. They are at work for 11 hours a day......and they rotate on saturdays for work.....some parents treat the hogwan like a daycare centre and their kids just get dropped off and picked up again at the very end of the day. In some cases the teachers have to stay later to prepare for extra class stuff. However, the amount of teaching hours is less than mine.... but they are responsible for calling parents and making weekly plans and such so it is about even........they just have this policy where the worker can't go home until the director does.......good fun huh?

um....oh pay......my manager gets 1.8.......I get 2.0. My coworker gets 1.6 and the none english instructors get.....1.4 I think......

And it is true that "technically" mimimum wage is 3,000 won per hour. Some jobs do pay less though.

[stevieg4ever]

no lie smee ive heard they make as little as 1500 won at the fast food chains. but those friends were from outside of seoul, busan i think

[ChopChaeJoe]

Supply and Demand.

Become a doctor, make more money.