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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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ReeseDog
Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Location: Classified
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 Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:14 am Post subject: Re: The ship is sinking! |
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| cobright wrote: |
| Francis-Pax wrote: |
| I hope that most of the teachers here leave over this problem. The more that leave, the better it is for me. |
Indeed. But the concern is, all these chicken littles will hit their panic buttons and run, then good luck getting a hagwan to get off the wallet and float interested peeps a ticket. |
I was thinking the same - that jobs might open up all over the place were teachers to blow the country en masse, but incoming teachers might have to arrange their own transportation. Not a problem for me personally, but I can see how some might count on the provided airfare. That is, after all, one of the draws for teaching ESL in Korea, no?
Even considering the deepening global economic crunch, I understand that a qualified individual can still get a teaching position in the big K, right? Or am I misled? |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject: Sure you can |
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Sure, you can still get a job here. Don't know how long that will be, though. I see a lot of construction projects that have slowed way down of late. Jobs that would have been begun, worked, and completed in only a few months are dragging on and on today. That's probably a sign credit is drying up a bit here, meaning a recession in Korea isn't far behind.
If a recession does rear its head, there will be layoffs, certainly, along with 'stay-at-home' deals and fewer paid flights and other perks. Yeah, get ready for the prospect of living with your boss and his family. Stay-at-homes could become more common in the near future. It's this or you'll be paying your own rent. |
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mistermasan
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:13 am Post subject: |
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i left korea about six months ago because of bad exchange rates.
where did i go? to a korean enclave in china. similar benefits, similar pay but things are way cheaper. end result: bigger savings.
do a little research if you are so inclined. google it up: weihai or yantai. one hour from incheon. |
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:27 am Post subject: |
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http://www.xe.com/ucc/
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Live rates at 2008.10.22 09:22:35 UTC
1.00 KRW = 0.000732800 USD
South Korea Won United States Dollars
1 KRW = 0.000732800 USD 1 USD = 1,364.63 KRW |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: |
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Check out the filipino on the last paragraph who is considering going home
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Won�s drop hurting foreign workers
October 22, 2008
BUCHEON - Sonny Buccat, a 30-year-old Filipino, is among a large number of foreign workers in Korea who send a chunk of their monthly paychecks to support families back home.
But beginning next month, Buccat says his remittances will have to stop.
�The exchange rate is too high,� he said. �My parents and my wife feel sad I may not be able to send them money for a while, but they also understand we have to wait until things get better.�
Buccat, who works at a small aluminum factory in this Seoul suburb, has watched the plunging local currency eat into the cash he sends home. The won has fluctuated wildly against the dollar in recent sessions, closing at 1,320.1 won per greenback yesterday.
The won has been one of the worst performing currencies in Asia, losing about 25 percent of its value against the dollar this year. The subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. and a subsequent credit meltdown have triggered dollar hoarding by banks and other financial institutions worldwide. Experts say the Korean currency has been one of the hardest-hit in relative value.
Currency woes are also having an effect on Korean families. Huge numbers of so-called �goose fathers,� men who stay behind to support families who go abroad for education, are finding that their paychecks do not go as far, forcing their wives and children to return home.
�It�s the other way around for migrant workers,� said Choi Jae-kyu, an official at the government-sponsored Korea Migrants� Center in Seoul. �It can be very troubling for these workers if the dollar gets expensive because that�s the currency they use for their transactions.�
According to the Korean government, there are about 440,000 migrant workers living in the country - many from the Philippines, China, Indonesia and Vietnam - while as many as 220,000 are believed to be staying beyond their legal visas.
Working in positions generally shunned by Koreans - jobs described as �3D� or �dirty, difficult and dangerous� - they form the bedrock of the workforce here, and send up to three quarters of their income to their families back home.
It is difficult to estimate the full amount of money migrant workers send home regularly, according to the Korea Exchange Bank, but local media recently estimated that it could be as high as $1 billion per month, quoting unidentified market sources.
On top of exchange rate concerns, migrant workers in Bucheon, which is home to about 20,000 foreign workers and a gritty cluster of manufacturers, are facing another dispiriting problem: a lack of chances to make extra money.
�Due to the economic slowdown, we have not been able to give much overtime work to our workers,� said Kim Ki-ho, a factory manager who oversees nine migrant workers. �Migrant workers need to work as much as they can because they have a limited stay here.�
Korea, which relies heavily on exports for growth, posted a trade deficit of $2.06 billion last month, raising the cumulative shortfall this year to $14.67 billion.
The weakening currency has been cited as a factor that has raised import costs for oil and other materials, prompting consumers and manufacturers to refrain from spending or investing.
Nguyen Tien Trung, a 28-year-old Vietnamese working under Kim, said he has already stopped sending money home to his parents.
�It�s such a loss if I send money now,� he said in fluent Korean. �I�m also not making as much as I used to, and the costs of living continue to grow here. I�m barely holding on.�
Trung is lucky in that his father continues to work in Vietnam, making up for the shortfall, but workers like 30 year old Joel Ticse from the Philippines, have no choice but to continue to send money because their families depend on it.
�I still have to send money if my child and my parents say they need it,� said Ticse, who works as an assistant at a molding company. �Now I�m even considering going back to the Philippines because the economic situation is not as good as it used to be here.� Yonhap |
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:37 am Post subject: |
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now its down to:
1.00 KRW = 0.000729198 USD
South Korea Won United States Dollars
1 KRW = 0.000729198 USD 1 USD = 1,371.37 KRW
Bassexpander posted (don't know where it is from):
| Quote: |
| �Now I�m even considering going back to the Philippines because the economic situation is not as good as it used to be here.� Yonhap |
yes, i agree
at the present moment I have lost about $600 more or less with the exchanging...is it worth living in a krappy hole for a measly amount of money? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| I'm comfortably in Japan myself. My friend who is in Beijing was just telling me that RMB is getting kinda strong compared to the Dollar...so now his Chinese wages aren't too bad compared to what he would be making in Korea right now. |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:32 am Post subject: Re: Sure you can |
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| Tobias wrote: |
| Yeah, get ready for the prospect of living with your boss and his family. Stay-at-homes could become more common in the near future. It's this or you'll be paying your own rent. |
Instead of asking for photos of the apartment ahead of time in order to decide on whether or not to take the job, teachers will be asking for photos of the bosslady. Male bosses will be recruiting female teachers a lot harder. If the male bosses want male teachers, they'll have to hire some hotassed secretaries and move us in with them. |
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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Whirlwind
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| Dude, I think that the damn ship has already sunk. |
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nuthatch
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:55 am Post subject: |
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| yes.... |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 3:04 am Post subject: There must be a new one that just pulled in, then |
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I read plenty of 'leaving korea' stories here, but I've seen at least three new faces in my town the past week. One ship has sunk, but a new one has just pulled into port. Somebody is willing to come here at 1400 to 1. Hell, I imagine the boat coming in would be full at 1800 to 1. It's too bad those coming in don't take a gander at the full boat that's pulling out.
Replace a quitter today, be a quitter tomorrow, as I always say. |
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Bigfeet
Joined: 29 May 2008
Location: Grrrrr.....
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| They probably started their paperwork a month or two ago when the won wasn't so weak. We won't really know the recruiting impact until the big drive to hire for March. |
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