Wages for Expats in Korea are on the Decline

Wages in Korea for expats (I'm not really sure about the situation for the locals) have been stagnating for the past 10 years or so, especially for English teachers and things are just getting more and more expensive, especially in Seoul. 

When I first came to Korea in 2003, the average starting wage for a public school teacher or hagwon teacher was around 2 million won.  Today, it's much the same and some public school teachers are working for as little as 1.8 million, while the average hagwon starting wage has increased a bit to around 2.2 million.  The potential for saving a considerable amount of money is still there, especially with the free airfare and housing, but it's much harder to live comfortably on 500 000 or 600 000 than it was back in the old days and I'd say the average expat probably spends between 800 000-1 million/month. 

Unis are a whole different thing entirely because there are just so many more factors to consider beyond the base salary.  Airfare and housing are often not included in the package, although places may offer key (deposit) money or a monthly housing allowance.  The wage per hour has to be considered because the base hours can range from 9-18+ per week and vacation can range from 4 weeks to 20 weeks per year.  And overtime opportunities are what can actually increase pay significantly and this actually matters a lot more than the actual base salary.

Here's an article from Expat Newswire with more details:

For Expats in Korea, Race to the Bottom Wages are Here

Looking for the big money?  The Middle East is probably where it's at these days:

Japan on the rise, Korea on the decline for English Teachers?

An interesting article from Expat Newswire:

TEFL Job Market Reversal as Japan Demand Rises, Korea Flounders

It's pretty high on the anecdotal evidence and low on actual stats, but it feels true to me.  I've been in Korea almost 10 years and it really is much harder to get a job these days in Korea than it was back in the old days.  

It's still possible to get a hagwon job easily enough but they seem to be getting pickier and pickier about things like gender (females), country (North Americans) and skin color (white).  Public schools are cutting Native English speaker positions left and right, especially at middle and high schools.  Universities have upped their requirements such that even someone with a masters degree and a couple years experience at a public school or hagwon in Korea can find it quite difficult to get their first uni job.

Maybe Japan is the answer?  

Why I Love Working at a Korean University

A guest post of mine over on another blog (TEFL Tips) about Why I love working at a Korean University.

Sharon's blog is quite fabulous by the way and I strongly recommend checking it out, especially if you are looking for a job somewhere else besides Korea.  You'll want to check out her series on, "The Best TEFL Jobs in the World," which is helpfully grouped by country.

English Teaching and Building Passive Income Streams

Over on my other blog, Freedom Through Passive Income, I talk about how English teaching can be a good job for building passive income streams and give some tips about how to do this.  English teaching in Korea is actually quite a decent job for anyone looking to get a bit more financially secure since the salaries are often quite high and there is also a lot of lucrative OT work available.  Check out the post here:

English Teaching and Passive Income Stream Building

Teaching in Saudi Arabia: What's your number?

A post over on my other blog about what it would take for me to be willing to teach in Saudi (and the Middle East in general).

Living in Saudi Arabia: what's your number?