Expat slave labor
I have been browsing some online job sites for expat jobs in Indonesia. Like many countries in Asia, teaching English is one area that is pretty accessible to westerners. It’s a job that is never going to make you rich, but for people looking for a lifestyle change, it is a fantastic way to travel to another and experience a different culture for an extended period.
One thing I noticed about the English teaching jobs here in Indonesia, especially on the famous ESL job site – is that the salaries are pretty low. They might be better than your local taxi driver, but they seem to be less than other Asian countries such as China and Vietnam.
Look at this one for example:
Economy return airfare, 6.6 million rupiah per month (net), – I know it’s not the highest of salaries, but the cost of living here is incredibly low, and our teachers actually save money each month; free modern shared housing (2 mins walk from school); 20 days holiday a year (not to mention at least 8 extra national holidays); 1 month salary bonus on completion of contract; medical cover; economy class return airfare. All visa/work permit costs are covered by the school.
The rupiah is taking a bit of a pounding right now, so 6.6 million works out to be around US$543.34 a month. The job does include “shared housing” and is only 2 minutes walk from the school. I like to live close to my work, but not that close and you better hope your roomie doesn’t snore.
Indonesia is a cheap place to live, especially if you only eat local food and don’t drink. I love Indonesian food, but I do like a bit of variety and occasionally want to enjoy a western meal. Duties on imported alcohol are ridiculous along with other imported food. English books are also more expensive. Internet can be relatively expensive (and slow if you are in a remote area.)
Also I know new graduates, especially from the U.S. probably have to pay back some money on their student loans. Travel in Indonesia is cheap, but unless you want to spend 20 hours riding on a bus or ferry you probably want to fly.
I honestly can’t see how their teachers could “save” money.
The Wall Street Institute pay about IDR 15 million a month (so I am told). The last I heard on EF was that they were paying around IDR 10-12 million.
A couple of years ago I answered an ad for an EF position and was offered IDR 7.2 million but that was premised on me living in the housing provided by the school for IDR 750K per month. SO, monthly take home was IDR 6.45 million.
English teaching in Indonesia is very much a “gap year” activity. Nevertheless, the hours are generally good and there is usually the ability to supplement your income with “private” classes.
That said, there are some schools such as National Plus and international schools who pay good salaries. However, in most cases you will need recognized teaching qualifications for these positions. In contrast, a small English language school will hire you if you are simply a native speaker.
Although, I once met this Indonesian fella (by ancestry) who was born and raised in Australia but could not land a job at one private language school in Jakarta because he was not white and therefore he would be a hard sell to the parents.
I have heard that Japan, Korea, and even Vietnam are paying the equivalent of IDR 20 million + for English teachers.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I will add your site to my blogroll.
The salaries are more in Japan but living costs are about 10-20 times that of Indonesia (no joke).
I have seen jobs in Vietnam for US$2500 a month and living costs there would be somewhat comparable to Indonesia.
I think a lot of these jobs play on the naievitiy of the average gapper. To be honest I’d prefer the Vietnam deal – better beer there too – though the wine is rubbish. You are right -its easy to assume that local costs are low – which they are so long as you never want a subway for lunch or bacon for breakfast or a beer!
Lis
I am a long term teacher, (6 years) in Medan. The wages at most of the language centres here pay to up to 11 million, some with extras, eg, bonus month, return air fares, accomodation allowance and medical. It is cheap labour for the school owners. The national plus schools and private schools pay more, but generally require a teaching degree.
Indonesia is definitely not the best place in the world to teach English, but it’s really not much worse than Thailand these days in terms of pay. I’ve been teaching in international schools for the last 20 years, and I’m now teaching in a mixed international/national plus school. You can make quite good money in a number of national plus schools but, as several folks have said here, you generally need teaching credentials. In the long run, it makes sense to get a credential. The pay more than justifies the expense of going back to school for a short while to get certified.
Hi
i am doing research on expats in S.E. Asia. I wanted to understand the kind of jobs most popular amongst expats in indonesia – i.e. banking, consulting, manufacturing, etc.
hope you guys can help me out
thanks
cheers
So, why would teaching ESL in Indonesia be considered a ‘gap year’ activity only? Quite a myopic view in my opinion.
There are plenty of individuals who teach for reasons other than to fill a gap year, and I would offer that they are, on the whole, better teachers than the average 23 year old looking for a temporary way to survive a gap year in indonesia. Most people cant save money in 1st world countries, and so whats the difference if they work at a job where they cant save much in Indonesia? Other than a probable better standard of living, for the money, than in the west.
Unless you measure your life in material goods accumulated, there is no reason to diminish esl teaching in Indonesia. You cant take it with you anyhow, and many of these teachers would rather live a more exciting life teaching abroad than “measure up” to societies ridiculous standards of material success, while sacrificing their freedom in the process.
Indonesia esl is comparable to ESL in many other countries, all which emply lifelong esl teachers.
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