Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Salaries have frozen.

[phaedrus]

My hagwon went through three supervisors when I worked there for two years, so maybe.

Starting salaries should increase with inflation, but renewal salaries should go up significantly if performance is good. Nothing more annoying than putting in a hard year of work and fighting over pennies with your hagwon for renewal.

[Real Reality]

phaedrus,
There is nothing more annoying than putting in a hard year of work and fighting over wons with your university for renewal.

What is the value of a won compared to the value of a penny?

[phaedrus]

One penny equals ten won.

Hagwons are cheap. Why? A penny saved by them is a penny earned by them. Of course they want to fight for every one, but that means teachers must as well.

[coolsage]

As long as there newbies coming here from wherever to pay down their student loans, of course the market will be depressed. I don't think that salaries for the likes of us have risen in the last five years, other than the token exponential hike at the contract renewal.

[JacktheCat]

Salaries usually go up due to increased experience.

Remember, schools are not paying for your experience and your teaching abilities, they are paying for your white face.

Your teaching may get better after a year, but your whiteness doesn't increase (well for most people it doesn't) so why should schools pay you more.

[captain kirk]

Hmm. How can I increse my whiteness if I'm already white so I can earn more? Act more white? Hmmm.

[VanIslander]

I never believed in the concept of seniority back home. It's an old union idea, and when you see how unmotivated and lackluster oldtimers can be getting paid MORE to do the SAME job as you the youngster... well, it doesn't seem fair.

It isn't an inherent right in business anywhere.

In some businesses, performance increases with experience, or training costs are high, thereby justifying seniority as a means of reducing the costs of turnover. But until the average Korean employer starts valuing the experience of EFL teachers, who I suspect do get better on average over time, then there's no perceived need to keep the same teacher around other than to reduce the costs of turnover.

I think Korean students benefit from being exposed to a variety of foreign teachers, so the consequence of losing some EFLers due to a lack of increased wage isn't all negative.

Of course, with more training usually comes better teaching, hence justifying the demand for higher pay.

So, if you want a higher pay next year for teaching the same sort of EFL job then improve your education.

That's my take.

[Real Reality]

Salaries seems stuck. Annual salary increases are negligible.
Pay increases at the same place are so small as to be meaningless or insignificant.

If prices are increasing, then should not salaries increase?
If Koreans are getting richer, then should not salaries increase?

Number of Korean Millionaires Grows to 65,000
A total of 65,000 Koreans had financial assets of at least $1 million, last year, up 18 percent from 2002, according to a report by investment managers, Merrill Lynch. Each of them has $2.9 million in financial assets on average. Korea outperformed the rest of the Asian countries in financial wealth growth.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200406/kt2004061615542810230.htm

[slap it]

maaaaaan~~~~~ i know i'm not one of the 65,000 millionaires in korea that's for sure.
just hoping my school will give me a raise when i recontract in a few months. my salary is at 2.3 right now. i should be able to get 2.4 for next year but that's about it. any advice? i work at a really good school, i'm happy here except they seem to have a ceiling on salaries at 2.4 right now. what do you guys think i should do?

[Real Reality]

Salaries paid to the nation's civil servants are expected to total 19 trillion won, up 6 percent from this year as the government plans to hire more police officers and teachers.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200409/kt2004092416144510230.htm

[bundaegi]

I think RR serves a vital interest to all of you teaching in Korea by painting such a bleak picture that those of us lurking on these boards thinking of going over get the willies.

[inkorea]

Seriously folks,

there is more money in the ITI industry.
Also, you can work in and English country with a BCSc. degree or an ITI diploma. You can get a diploma within one year and get a great job, get paid two to six times more money.

Good Luck

IK

[captain kirk]

Gee, thanks. But this thread isn't about another industry it's about teaching English. And this is Dave's ESL cafe, remember.
Oh well, can't take sensible advice today, I guess. Too busy having a blast.
Getting the salaries unstuck is between teacher and the wonjonim (or the 'school whitey wrangler', as mindmetoo would say ). On the job board, it's true, they haven't changed in years. And in fact have 'gone down' due to the rapidly rising cost of living.
Vanislander seems to be someone who's stayed put in the same school and is responsive/responsible about what the boss, kids, culture expect. Attuned, and adapting, like. So I'm not surprised that's his take. It's what it takes to hang in there and be empowered with more money, instead of being replaced by someone just blowing in. And who haven't sensed, yet, how much the price of things subtly but steadily grows all 'round, like a taxi meter's indomitable forward 'click'.

[CanadaCommando]