Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lastat06513]

I had spoken to several recruiters over the past few weeks to get a better understanding of the situation and they said that the new regulations are making their jobs alot more harder to do and some of them have even stopped recruiting altogether because of the uncertainty created by all this.

In addition, I had spoken to several people through PMs about all this and a few of them have given up completely on trying to go to Korea (hence, many inquiries into moving to China or the Middle East).

If the Korean gov't were to repeal these regulations, it would be seen as losing face with the public in that they couldn't uphold laws that were seen as having popular support (supposedly).

Yet, if they don't repeal or at least modify these laws, you might see more jobs than applicants (at first) until alot of these so-called money machines are driven out of business and the only place you will see FTs would be in public schools (which was kinda' like the way it was before 1998, when English education went mainstream when the flood gates opened)


From what I know, Taiwan had the same problems like Korea in that it attracted all kinds to teach there that they implemented many regulations (including one that stated that to teach in public school, one needs to have a teaching certificate from their home state or province..). Thus, if you look at the jobs there, you will see tons of public school jobs that go unfilled because most teachers who go there don't have teaching certificates.

Do you see Korea heading down the same path?

By that, I mean do you see Korea not having enough applicants to fill the positions there?


I had said this a million times (this will make it one million-one times), the new regulations WON'T dramatically raise salaries because the Korean gov't (even under the new administration of Lee Myung Bak) has promised that they want to make English education affordable to all- thus, the salaries are looking to become stagnant for some time thereafter. And the new regulations WON'T improve the quality or the conditions of the places (you might even see an upswing in the number of people getting cheated because Koreans will start thinking they can get away with it because they will automatically think the foreigner has to go home anyway. so do they have to pay them severance or pension on time (all they have to do is make excuses to delay payment until the foreigner has no choice but to leave empty-handed)

[JiH]

Interesting topic.

While I agree, in the short term, the next few years won't see a dramatic rise in NT salaries. There are still enough foreign teachers in country before you'll see a national net effect of the new regulations. The long term projection is uncertain.

When the Korean government realizes that native fluency isn't as high as they would like to believe and the supply of NT is lowered due to the new regulation, market demand will play a lot into future politics and economy.

If Korea continues to have a voracious demand for English fluency and native instruction, the base wage will increase. It's simply a case of supply and demand. At which point, the government will have to evaluate the regulation of NT in the country heavily influenced by popular opinion at the time.

The only way salaries will decrease is if Korea finds itself no longer demanding English at the current level or if NT employment becomes a duopoly.

The latter I find to be more plausible. Given the current regulations, the new system would actually favor the larger hogwon corporations and government funded jobs. Thus the smaller chains, franchises, and mom and pop hogwons shut down leaving the industry to only a handful of corporations.

But even this will be governed by international demand. By demanding more regulation and certification, Korea begins to put itself in competition with regional countries with more mature English programs.

Korea's wages would have to be at least on par with Taiwan and Japan because it is no longer "easier" to go to Korea then the competing countries. Korea's attraction has always been lower cost of living and a good wage. Without that edge and the new regulations, I believe Korea will see a decrease in overall supply of NT in the coming years.

But again, in the next few years, I don't see too much of a change. If anything there will probably be a spike in salaries or incentives as schools attempt to fill out their teacher rosters with the thought of lowered supply in the future.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[The Perfect Cup of Coffee]

Good points on Taiwan. The one difference though is that, at least in the ROK, I still think there's a greater demand for English language eduction, especially on the private side.

The Taiwanese and Japanese both have languages of their own that are somewhat regionally important for doing business. Mandarin is and will be huge while Japanese is still a a great language to know if you want to deal with Japan. Whereas the Koreans are sort of flailing around to learn all 3 with English winning out.

The regulations are going to pretty much suck for the E-2s, but hopefully the hagwon system boosts working conditions to attract enough people. I'm all for letting qualified people enter and own their visa similar to Japan. Guess I'm using that nasty old habit of thinking logically though.

[bassexpander]

I expect private wages to rise.

[The Perfect Cup of Coffee]

[Cliffhanger]

나삼

[crsandus]

[lastat06513]

Given the current state of things, I also see a dramatic rise in "Kwa-ae" tuition, given that only F2s and those brave enough to work on a tourist visa will fill these positions.

I think that salaries will not increase as ordinary people will bulk at paying sky-high tuition rates to learn English- you might see a rise in salaries in the big hakwons (if they survive all this) and in private tuition in places like Seoul, Busan and maybe Incheon and Daegu.

I say this because of the "Chinese university model", alot of people want to work there, but the salaries are considerably low compared to working at a language training center.....and I think you might see a more "take it or leave it" attitude as directors will try to threaten the teacher with words like: "If you don't like working here, there are tons of people who would....", making the FT/NT feel expendable and worthless.

I don't think conditions will get better as, in the forseeable future, the only work place would be the public schools as many hakwons would be forced out of business due to the lack of native speaking FTs.