NOVA Saga

[bobby12 0]

I looked on japantimes before posting and they had nothing about it, just some article from this morning saying they looking for the president and that someone had been demoted.

 

Its now on BBC news online:

 

"Its 2,000 Japanese staff have not been paid since July and some 4,000 non-Japanese instructors have not been paid their salary for October, union officials said."

 

Interesting they think (know?) they can get away with not paying the locals but the gaijin wouldnt put up with it. Wonder if it is illegal to discriminate in such a way...however by not paying staff I guess they have already crossed that line.

[me jane 0]

 Originally Posted By: bobby12

Interesting they think (know?) they can get away with not paying the locals but the gaijin wouldnt put up with it. Wonder if it is illegal to discriminate in such a way...however by not paying staff I guess they have already crossed that line.

I thought about that too, but wonder is it just about what they can get away with. One reason might have been that they didn't really need as many Japanese staff after they were stopped from taking on new students. Also, I guess if there was anyone thinking about the welfare of the staff then they might have deemed the foreign staff more worthy as they were less likely to have family to support them out here.

[Rag-Doll 0]

 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

yeah, they'll get it eventually but its trying to plug the gap. I know many instructors and they don't have a pot to piss in. Absolutely broke.

It's pretty stupid to let yourself be put in this position though. Teaching Eng in Japan is supposed to be good money but to be living hand to mouth and from one pay to the next hardly seems like it is worth it. Maybe it's a good wake up call for these people - time to go home folks and get a real job.

[thursday 1]

It takes a certain mentality to live hand to mouth. A certain irresponsible attitude to one's own well being.

 

I'd bet it's all spent on booze and girls.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Your not far off Thursday, spent on beer and the chasing of girls!!

 

The money in't that great to be honest, I've dropped quite a bit in salary as a result of coming over here, but your right in saying that its stupid to be put in a position like this. Often though the ones that this happen to are young and barely out of Uni, so are really just out here on busman's holiday.

[indosnm 0]

 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll

 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

yeah, they'll get it eventually but its trying to plug the gap. I know many instructors and they don't have a pot to piss in. Absolutely broke.

It's pretty stupid to let yourself be put in this position though. Teaching Eng in Japan is supposed to be good money but to be living hand to mouth and from one pay to the next hardly seems like it is worth it. Maybe it's a good wake up call for these people - time to go home folks and get a real job.

When I came here I was skint. That was due to the Japanese gov only requiring us working holidayers to have $2500 in cash to support ourselves! Think about those Nova guys, 250K then take out costs of living and your not really going to get alot of change. Plus their schedules are killer and don't have time for privates either.
A bit harsh..

[Go Native 70]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

It takes a certain mentality to live hand to mouth. A certain irresponsible attitude to one's own well being.

I take it you've never been poor then thursday? I've known many families who live hand to mouth as you put it not from any irresponsibility but from very low wages. Probably don't get to see much of that side of life from The Peak in HK though I guess

[thursday 1]

Comments made on this thread relate to the topic. Gaijin teachers in Japan are not from the grass root levels of society. Living hand to mouth would be of their own making, not of the social economic situations that they've been born into.

 

Oh, damn nice view from here don't you think old bean?

[samurai 0]

well said, GN.

 

I came to Japan with a grand in my pocket. I took the Nova cash-advance to buy a bike. Years down the road, things are different. But when I came, I was in that boat. And that boat was pretty then. I was thankful I had it. I spent everything I owned to come to Japan. And so did many other Nova teachers.

 

call us broke and stupid though.

[Go Native 70]

Plenty of gaijin in Hirafu living hand to mouth I can tell you (not myself luckily). I know guys here barely pulling in Y150k per month and trying to support a wife and kid.

[thursday 1]

again, not from the grass roots of society and have chosen their own way. But good luck to them as I am sympathetic.

[indosnm 0]

$150K a months with a family???

are they squatting?

Madness!

[soubriquet 0]

250k per month plus board found is rich. These people are afloat with cash. Not being able to save on that is a testament to stupidity. Mummy and Daddy to the rescue.

[indosnm 0]

When I came here monthly payments were new to me as I was used to weekly payments.

Sure 250K you might be able to save a little depending on where you live but young, dumb and full of come, who cares about tomorrow eh!

 

Qantas are apparently offering a discount 1 way ticket.. How do I qualify!

[Tubby Beaver 209]

same as BA (presumably). The UK government has said that it would subsidise flights home for ppl, it'd be great if you were planning a visit home anyway eh?

 

250k is not a lot I'm afraid, and I don't come from an affluent background. I have always saved up my own money to finance my travels and haven't asked my parents for a hand out, not that they would be able to afford it anyways. By my own admission though I am bad with money and am in the process of amending my spendfree ways!!

 

the wages for english teachers really haven't changed that much in the past 10 years, from what I've heard

[NoFakie 45]

Make that sixteen years. The eikaiwa job I did was 220k for five days with no paid holiday. Some things have come down in price since then, but graduates from the uk now come to Japan in much heavier debt.

 

 Quote:

This year's freshers are expecting to spend £33,512 over the course of a three-year university degree and leave with a debt of £14,779, a survey said today.

 

One year's Nova salary is less than that. If you wanted to pay a chunk of it off, I suppose you'd end up living paycheck to paycheck or pretty close to it.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

>the wages for english teachers really haven't changed that much in the past 10 years, from what I've heard

 

I think the market has become even more flooded since Ive been here hence they're going down. Or asking for more qualified teachers, somebody with a MA in linguistics, and only paying them something like 30man/month. Madness.

[indosnm 0]

Yep. totally agree CB.

Need TESL etc just to get standard jobs. Too many people, now with Nova out, what will happen to the employment maket?

[Fattwins 0]

It will take time for the market to reset but in a few monthes things will balance out. A good chunk of the Nova teachers will more than likely just go home. There are plenty of students out there now looking for a place to study. More jobs will open up as those student find schools.

 

When I first came here getting a job was walking into the building. I got the standard 25 but within 3 weeks i was over 35 close to 40. YOu just cant walk into those jobs anymore right off of the plane.

[bobby12 0]

Is there less demand for eikaiwa now? Or is it just that NOVA were evil?

[gerard 6]

--Not less demand. Demand has probably increased but not nearly as much as supply. As for NOVA --they were greedy (like record labels from another thread ).

[AK 77 0]

While those who have just arrived (when it takes 3 pay checks to balance the cost of arriving) get my sympathy, I'm not partcularly sad to see NOVA go under.

 

They used very unprofessional and bordering on verbally abusive interview techniques on a good friend of mine at their interview centre in the UK - which didn't address ability to teach or adapt to living in a new culture, but consisted of very intrusive person questions aimed at seeing how the interviewee coped with being humiliated!

 

I'm talking about a mature (late 20s) person with a Masters, not a recent uni graduate here - and they said several other people came out of the interview boothes in tears!

This was combined with lots of petty bureaucracy on the day of the interview - so if all that reflects their particular corporate culture (not the teachers working for them) then good ridance.

I always though they gave EFL teaching / education industry a bad name anyway.

 

Although I did meet someone who worked with them for 3 years, who came back to EFL teaching in the UK and was a great teacher, and was happy with her time with them.

[AK 77 0]

Teaching in Japan, it is clearly possible to save a reasonable amount, but this now equates to less in your home currency, and is usually a choice between save OR socialise for that month.

 

I'm not sure anyone would come to teach English here for the money as their main motivation.

 

Assuming you need the minumum of a University degee - that's an average debt of 14,000 pounds at the end.

 

Taking the standard pay of 250,000 - that's 12,781 pounds BEFORE tax.

 

This is about the same you would make as a high school graduate doing office temping on a weekly contract!

 

Obviously the costs of living are higher in the UK (but not if you are yound and still living at home).

[Go Native 70]

Cost of living up here in Hokkaido is incredibly low. My wife and I earn less than half what we did in Aus but we are able to save more here. Granted in Aus I had a home loan and here I fully own my house but just living in a rural area is so much cheaper than living in a big city. There's just not as much stuff to spend money on...

[bobby12 0]

Some would say that means you have a lower quality of life, however I lived in Nagano for 3 years and can say that living somewhere surrounded by that kind of nature (and skiing) beats the pants off being somewhere urban. And I grew up in inner london.