Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jstyle88]

I was going through job ads for esl positions and I notice many show benefit of one way ticket only reimbursed.

Is this common that round trip is not paid by school??

[tob55]

It is common these days. It used to be round trip, but employers have been attempting to cut corners. Most feel they don't want to risk giving an employee a round trip voucher, which they can turn around and use for a midnight run if things do not work out. So, it is common now for employers to offer a one way ticket and then at the renewal of the contract period they provide round trip air fare for people (IF it is written in the contract) to go on vacation back in their home country.

[ttompatz]

Contracts used to guarantee airfare both ways.

One of the hagwan associations in Seoul, due to the massive influx of US refugees a couple years ago (many of whom stayed longer than 1 year) decided that they no longer needed to offer airfare home at the end of the contract.

There are still enough applicants who are desperate enough to find any job possible after graduation that they can still meet their recruitment needs without paying for the airfare home.

That perk (airfare out of Korea) is now gone and wages have stagnated as well. It will likely remain that way until the recruit pool dries up (people start staying home to work) or China takes away too many "new teachers" with better job offers and Korea has to compete with better remuneration packages.

As an aside:

EFL is a globally competitive job market. Countries need to offer a package that can attract new "teachers". That package can include the remuneration package (salary and benefits) or other perks (destination of choice - like Thailand).

Korea is lower down the "destination" table so they offer better perks to find teachers. Once they have met their recruitment needs (old teachers tend to hang around rather than go home) then they no longer need to offer the perks. Airfare is going.

China has more "destination value" so was able, for a long time, to get away with low wages and benefits. Now, you will find that they are becoming competitive with Korea in terms of savings and quality of life. They had to compete to attract teachers and their demand for teachers is still high so packages are continuing to improve.

Thailand has always been a destination of choice (so they continue to attract more teachers than they need) and the remuneration packages have always been low (low salary and minimal or no benefits) and they have not improved over the last 10-15 years.

.

[Weigookin74]

It's only one way flight if you accept the contract. Many are still offereing two way flights. Simply move on to the next job offer unless you're a complete idiot with no brains or intelligence. The US economy stinks compared to the last two or three decades, but there are bright spots around. Many States have introduced business reforms the last few years and have economies with low or falling unemloyment rates like Texas. Western Canadian provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan have done the same.

So, if you're a newbie, either come over with a good offer or move to a State with a better economy. But don't accept a bad offer as you'll be miserable and complaining after 3 or 4 months that your shady hakwon boss who tried to nickle and dime you on a flight home is also nickle and diming you on other things. Those other things can include a small moldy apartment in a basement somewhere, they can include not paying your taxes, pension, or medical insurance. They end up being late with your pay, or let you get stuck and broke in a foriegn country with no money as they stopped paying you a couple of months ago.

In other words, if you're a your a young newbie, use your brain and don't be stupid. If you see some @$$ h@t hakwon owner trying to pull this no flight crap, delete, move on to the next job offer, and proceed. It's a matter of character here, folks.