Foreign ESL Teachers’ Salaries On The Rise
This is good news for all of us. Compared to this time a few years ago the average hourly pay for a foreign ESL teacher in Beijing has raised nearly 20%. My only guess is that this increase will, or already has, been felt in other provinces of China as well.
If you have been in China for some time now and are doing a part-time teaching deal then you probably have already seen this raise in general salaries. It’s not uncommon to find part-time jobs that pay 200 or more RMB per hour. Full-time positions that pay more than 10,000 RMB per month are quite common in Beijing.
Take a look at the job postings on http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/employment/English-Teaching. This is Beijing’s #1 expatriate website and a great resource for ESL job searchers. Many of these jobs, however, cater to teachers who are already in China and have ways of securing a visa on their own.
If you are more into the package deals that schools offer (e.g. salary, paid vacation, completion bonus, visa sponsorship, flight reimbursement, on campus apartment, etc.) take comfort in the fact that these salaries are also on the rise. Several years ago there were not many of these package deals breaking the 5,000 RMB per month barrier. Now it’s quite common. Check out the latest job postings at ESL Employment http://www.eslemployment.com/esl-jobs/asia/ and see for yourself. Most of these are package deals.
It’s a good time to be an English teacher in China. The demand is high, the students are plentiful, the pay is rising, and it’s so rewarding. What a great job!