Is English Teaching Worth It?

Is it still worth coming to Japan to teach English?
Probably not, and here's why.

The ministry of Immigration sets a minimum requirement for ￥250,000 per month salary. By default this has also become the maximum as well. Companies like Interact (supplier of teachers to local high schools) pays ￥230,000 per month plus a ￥20,000 "attendance bonus". Quite a way to ensure paying the bare minimum while offering an incentive to turn up to work.

Also there is a requirement for all full time employees who work 30 hours or more a week to be enrolled in the government pension system. The vast majority of companies simply skirt this requirement by setting the number of contracted hours at 29.5 or such to make employees ineligible for the system. Naturally the time considered "working" doesn't include break times, meal times, times between lessons or potentially time spent doing "non-core activities".

Bonuses don't exist for these Part-Time "Full-Time" workers in Japan. The average summer bonus for 2008 for salaried employees will be about ￥900,000. This is on top of an average salary of ￥500,000 a month for Tokyo based employees. Clearly there is a disparity here.

Expenses will eat what little you get. If you budget about 20-30% for various taxes, health insurance and pension payments (you can get the pension payments back if you leave within 3 years) and then allow for rent (￥40,000 for a room with bathroom to ￥90,000 for a 2 Bedroom place in Tokyo) utilities and food, you won't leave much for saving OR partying. On the entry level ￥250,000 you can do one or the other but not both.

Now that NOVA has closed its doors and won't return ever again to dominate the Ekaiwa industry as it once did, it has become difficult for people to obtain a work visa. Commonwealth citizens can easily obtain a working holiday visa for their stay but Americans must have a University degree and obtain corporate sponsorship. Also considering how the collapse of NOVA has flooded the economy with semi-skilled workers, there are precious few decent jobs to be had these days. And of course the companies seem to know their strong position.

Why do I say semi-skilled? I look at other people in this industry and wonder what they are actually capable of doing "back home". After spending many hours reading online I have come across many interesting stories of people who did moderately well here in Japan leaving to find themselves essentially unemployable back home. One of my co-workers went back to Australia last year, in my last e-mail I got from him I heard he was training to become a bus driver.

It's a job, not a holiday. People come over with the doe eyed idea that teaching English is a great way to finance their "explore Japan" holiday. Nope. Companies give you set annual leave each year and expect you to keep your travel time within that. Beyond that is up to your manager, it all on a case by case basis.

So think twice before you come over. It's not a highly respected position that qualifies you for pretty much zero "back home". Your entry salary will be worse than a call center worker in Australia and the cost of living isn't that much cheaper, considering the start up costs.