Gaba Corporation

10 comments

1. I worked for them prior to covid and was reasonably satisfied with working there, although I know that staff satisfaction is heavily dependent on which studio/office you work in.

   The hours are indeed flexible. My wife and I chose to work literally all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then took the remaining 4 days off. We had no problems getting that going.

   When talking to the interviewer and later your trainer and then your supervisor, of course play up that you’re sticking to the script. But in practice, with your clients, be as flexible as they need. Use Japanese, if necessary, bring in extra material, abandon the textbook, edit their writing, whatever. Ultimately, you get your money from having clients, not from appeasing corporate. Although, appeasing corporate does open up a few more opportunities that pay a bit more–that’s a tradeoff you’ll have to make yourself.

   The training is totally unpaid, which sucks. It’s also tedious a.f. and has fuck-all to do with anything. But, whatever, once you get into your office routine, hit the ground running. Dress nice, groom well, be personable and flexible, and you’ll have a roster of clients filling up your schedule in no time.

   It’s not the greatest place in the world to work, but it’s far from the worst (at least in me, pre-pandemic experience).

2. One of the sketchy big ones. Questionable business model that allows them to cut your pay if you don’t dance well enough for your customers. Famous for hiring people from eastern Europe and passing them off as natives. Recently merged with the blackest of black eikaiwa, Nova.

   You will not be teaching anything especially professionals. Something people don’t realize, real professionals can hire university teachers directly from the universities. They don’t need to play with the unqualified babysitters at eikaiwas. GABA is notorious for being basically a hostess club especially if you are female. Your job will be customer service. If they don’t give you a perfect score or ask for a different gaijin, you get a pay deduction. You are 100% responsible for keeping your customers which means you have to do what the customer wants even if it’s not moral.

   ​

   If you only want to do it for a year and have zero want to stay longer, try ECC or Aeon. There are small ones that aren’t completely terrible but it is impossible to know which ones until you are there.

3. All big chain eikaiwas (and even most of the small ones) are black companies that essentially run gaijin slave labor factories. If you absolutely must come to Japan for a year, please for your own sake, do it as an ALT (JET, Interac, Altia). ALT is a pointless job as well, but at least it’s easy and will leave you with lots of free time with a similar paycheck.

4. I worked for them as a means to get here. I’m grateful for that, but other than that, it was horrible.

   I was told that as an MBA holder, I’d be assigned to a Shinjuku or Ikebukuro location to teach mainly business people. Instead, I was assigned to a location in a far suburb nearish Urawa and spent half the day doing nothing until the random housewife or child lesson came in.

   The location I was at regularly had 3-4 extra teachers there that were not teaching lessons as the number of students at the school was low and not everyone would get booked.

   If it gets you here, great. However, I suggest having about 3 months expenses with you when you get here. If the actually put you in a busy location, you’ll be fine. If not, you can deal with it while seeking other jobs.

   Also know that current GABA employees are being laid off and told their isn’t enough work and locations are closing. Buyer beware.

5. Read this to learn all you really need to know: [https://www.generalunion.org/gaba/2623-gaba-cuts-working-hours-teachers-voice-disapproval](https://www.generalunion.org/gaba/2623-gaba-cuts-working-hours-teachers-voice-disapproval)

   Then scroll though and check other school names, like Aeon, Nova, Berlitz, and ECC.

   Then make your decision.

6. They recently got bought out by nova didn’t they? Some people I knew said it changed for the worse…just so you’re aware of current events.

7. Back out. You will thank us later.

8. I currently work at GABA. Just remember that you are a contractor and only get paid per lesson. So if you have zero lessons for the day, you make zero yen on the day. You also have to realize that you are responsible for extra fees like train fees (deductible on taxes), health insurance, and pension (but you can ask for exemption on this.)

   On the upside, if you aren’t worried about money, GABA is the best for enjoying Japan. You decide your schedule and can easily decide when you want to travel. Other eikaiwas where you are an employee make it very difficult to travel freely because they control your schedule and often give you very little PTO.

   And another post mentioned that GABA got bought out by NOVA and things have gone down hill, and that is largely correct. NoVA is doing it’s best to bleed GABA dry and the quality of everything has gone into a toilet.

9. I met my wife at GABA 16 years ago. 🙂

10. I work for GABA and I can tell you RUN! Don’t do it, it’s not worth it. I’m currently trying to get another job so I can get out.