Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Data Points to Bigger Crash Than 1997
By Kim Yoon-mi, Korea Herald (January 28, 2009)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/01/28/200901280027.asp
Image address:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/img_dir/2009/01/27/200901270002.jpg

[Guri Guy]

Woof! Those numbers don't look very promising.

[Whistleblower]

Now something verifies what I have been saying for a while whilst the majority of this board make a joke of me.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?p=1940280&highlight=#1940280

[Guri Guy]

I believe you Whistleblower. The South Korean media and government aren't about to tell the masses the truth. The future looks grim methinks.

[DaeguKid]

WB, I agree 100%. Hogwons will hurt....only the stong will survive. And you are right, there will be a fight for Uni and day school jobs. There are pros and there are cons.

Pros-it will get rid of alot of rift raft who feel they are the end all and be all of Korea. Sorry, just seen to many of them recently and look forward to watching them move on. Employers who are afraid to let them go will have no problem saying adios to el jerko.

It will also weed out those who want to really be here and those who are using this place as their toilet to make a few bucks and move on.

Cons-can't think of any! I got a great job, told I do it well, feel I do it well and I am up there on the seniority list.

As for the global cost of the Won, all i hope and pray is that every countries numbers are equivalent to that of Korea and that if we go down the toilet for awhile, at least it will be together.

DK

[Whistleblower]

I believe that Korea is going to see many Koreans lose their jobs and the employers are going to be stung. There shall be a great depression in this country with people without jobs, no money and becoming bankrupt. Koreans shall be losing their apartments and you shall see a lot more homeless in the streets.

This would cause great social change with people commiting suicide (jumping in front of cars, trains, subways, etc) to try to get blood money for their family. This happens in most developing countries where poverty is noticed.

In the meantime, Korea shall blame all other countries for the decrease in purchasing exports from them (cars, etc) and it will be a very hard pill to swallow. However, foreigners shall encounter violence, mockery, etc for their being in Korea.

It is going to get tough for both the expat community and Koreans and the only people that shall battle through this economic storm will be the government, civil servant (although Korea is making cutbacks now) and the large corporate directors.

Good luck all, 2009 and 2010 are going to be tough for those in Korea.

P.s. - More news related to this. Korea is up a creek without a paddle:

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/01/123_38459.html

[gangpae]

Whistle do you have a university degree?

[VanIslander]

the sky is falling, the sky is falling !

Like the fall time hoopla over the value of the currency.

Korea's GDP only increased by 2.5 % in 2008 while China's slowed down to only 6% GDP growth.

It's a numbers game that will have a marginal impact on many of our lives though a huge impact on others.

Korea has really low debt compared to the OECD average so that bodes well for both investment security and more importantly government spending options in the short to medium term.

Korea is not import-dependent, so as long as a steady supply of affordable energy exists (oil prices have gone back down) then the domestic industries will get by without any devestating effect in the short ot medium term despite reduction in export sales which might hit the manufacturing sector.

The next 3-5 years wil be easily tolerable for ESL teachers in Korea regardless of the economic slowdown. If you think ajumma will cut off their child's education before they stop buying new T.V.s and newer cars then you see this country very differently than I do! And if there were a 5%-25% reduction in hagwons that'll mostly hit the newbies, with a noticeable but less than cataclysmic effect on salaries.

The fact is that all these economic worries are a step removed from the lives of ESL teachers in Korea, relevant but not as significant as made out to be. Go on living your life, as I will and have mine, and see a perhaps distinct, but marginal, difference made by it all.

[blaseblasphemener]

I agree VanI.

Also, the new public school hiring scheme to get native speakers in all classrooms will obviously provide thousands of jobs.

[ruffie]

[ruffie]

[Whistleblower]

[Whistleblower]

[Kimchieluver]

[fruitcake]

the won holding steady against the dollar despite that headline and a series of negative economic reports from the States over the holiday