How are schools ‘finding’ teachers right now and what’s the current state of the teaching market?

11 comments

1. There is no shortage. Demand is the lower than ever. The wages are continuing their downward trend and the people here continue to accept the shitty contracts.

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   Eikaiwa companies always relied on kids trying to pass eiken for their main revenue. These days the Juku companies have taken over that role and do a better job for cheaper prices. The “need” for native teachers is a total myth. A Japanese teacher is far more effective when it comes to test prep.

   ALTs are being replaced with tablets. No need for a weeb to creep around in the dark corners of the classroom. If one is really required, cheaper options are available. Instead of hiring a big nosed, blond, white person the companies can hire qualified teachers from the Philippines for less money. Plenty of them are already here and are happy to work for minimum wage.

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   If you are talking about real, qualified teachers for university and international schools, there is an exception in the visa freeze that allows schools to import them if they really need them. Only the dancing monkeys are being kept out.

2. think about how many Spanish teachers you see in the states 🙂

3. Firstly, don’t limit yourself to ALT positions, look for other opportunities, there are many you just need to scrub away at the internet to find them. Secondly, you’re already in Japan so that gives you a better chance than the most qualified “wannabe ALTs” screaming at the internet to get into the country. Rural areas are the best IMHO. I live in a city and work in a small town 10 minutes away. Also, it’s good to note that BOE’s are lowballing dispatch/ALT companies due to limited funds and budgets caused by cities/towns not collecting as much tax because of the pandemic. I recently learned that some companies (rhymes with pet) have been doing mass hires from the Philippines. I work for a different company and was asked by my BOE to meet with 3 of them to help them settle in here in Japan.I hope this sheds light on what you are asking, best of luck though.

4. What shortage are you referring to? Japan has plenty of long-term residents that live in Japan and are native English teachers. Jobs on job sites are getting hundreds of applicants from IN Japan.

   I’m in several forums and schools are having no trouble finding teachers, already with visa, as they are hiring from the existing pool of people.

5. Not sure why people are being downvoted. There really is very little shortage. The shortage you’re seeing are bottom of the barrel jobs that people have (and should have a long time ago) quit, and no reasonable person should be taking. Even if the pay is not the problem, the working hours should bring up some red flags.

   During COVID, Eikaiwa jobs are being cut down or outsourced to Zoom lessons from SEA folks. Even schools are exploring more of these online options and cutting back on physical needs of ALTs down. Foreign folk who previously had jobs in eikaiwa or owned an English school lost a lot of work and income due to COVID, so these folks are filling in the gaps for schools, dispatch & decent eikaiwas. I’m certain plenty of Universities also saw a cut in various English-speaking jobs, and those folks are also filling the void in dispatch or other areas.

   It’s possible more people may move back home or find other opportunities to move elsewhere come next year, and also possible that more Japanese people are starting to return to in-person conversation lessons in the future, but there really isn’t much shortage.

6. I can only speak to the university level, but for all the talk about how the market is shrinking it’s getting pretty tight on the supply side.

7. > As we all know, there’s a shortage of native teachers right now due to the border restrictions that have been in place for almost two years now.

   There is no shortage.

   The JET Program always has more applicants than positions available. They’re delayed again and again due to travel restrictions, but they’ll get here.

   International school and private high school teachers don’t move much as their jobs are stable and decently compensated. These positions are relatively scarce so competition is stiff.

   The eikaiwa chains and ALT dispatch companies struggling to fill jobs can’t retain employees because their conditions are so awful. Eikaiwa is a human zoo. Dispatch ALT work is rife with black companies.

8. What to expect? If you have 12 years of education in English, no problem. Just change your visa to the job-seeker visa when you start your search.

9. There’s a part of me wondering if some folks around here are going, “Good- let this continue!”… mostly in reference to the Eikaiwa/Dispatch jobs. They’ve wanted these companies to go under for ages… and looks like it might finally be time courtesy of the pandemic. Some would call this a GOOD thing.

10. Kind of a complicated answer. Schools are desperate because they can’t hire from abroad right now.
    Most schools have no choice but to hire in country.

    Speaking as somebody who lost my office job in 2020 due to COVID, the only people taking teaching jobs are those who need the income, not because they want to be teachers.

    So schools are kind of stuck in a revolving door now. People get hired out of desperation, they quit once they find something better or can’t take it anymore, and the cycle continues.

    Technically, foreigners aren’t in short supply. It’s just that most schools don’t have the financial security to hire new teachers and many foreigns don’t want to work crap jobs for slave wages.

    Cities usually have no problem filling even the crappiest roles. But suburbs and the countryside struggle to fill them due to lack of available foreigners.

    I saw an eikaiwa job that had been listing their position for months now. Not only was it in a undesirable area, but they wanted the teacher to also have something ridiculous like photoshop and graphic design skills. Yet they were offering the same salary as a any other teacher. Why would somebody accept that level of pay for a role with two hats?

    These companies are playing themselves.

11. There is and there isn’t a shortage. *New* English teachers are having trouble entering the country. [JETs](https://twitter.com/JETProgram/status/1452328886268792843?t=5L-9lSV62NX_Hid8ife5bA&s=19) have had trouble getting in and they’re government sponsored. I can’t imagine Borderlink or Aeon is having an easier time getting new people in.

    At the same time, there are already lots of qualified – bachelor’s holding native English speakers – teachers already living here who are able to cover pretty much all of these advertised open positions. The reason why it *seems* like there’s a teacher shortage is because these positions are going unfilled. They’re going unfilled because the employment terms are *shit* and not enticing enough keep teachers from going home. I would imagine that there are also a lot of teachers who left teaching to get an office job because of the stability. If ALT or eikaiwa companies provided stability and paid a lot better, the “labor shortage” would sort itself out.

    That’s the main issue here. Companies want teachers who will work in miserable conditions and usually, companies are able to fill up their rosters by relying on perpetual turnover driven by recruitment abroad. Now that the pandemic and a new variant have thrown a wrench into the whole operation, companies are throwing their hands up and claiming “labor shortage!” instead of offering better conditions to apply to the workers who are already in Japan. This is a “problem” made entirely by the industry itself.