Why pay increase from your ESL companies is hopeless

When I was still teaching for an ESL company, the rate ceiling my company offered was P150/hr and if you are a Business English tutor, P160/hr. Many tutors complain about how low that rate is and they hope and even demand for pay increase. When I learned about this rate ceiling, I immediately asked myself, “Why? How come they can only pay up to that amount?” So, I immediately searched through their homepage in Japanese to check how much they charge the learners.

What I found out was that my ESL company was offering their services in “plans or packages” and at that time, the basic plan was somewhere between 4500-5000 yen/mo for an every day lesson of 25-minutes. Say, at 5000yen/mo, a 25-min lesson then, would cost only 166yen and for 50-min, 333yen. In pesos, ~150/50-min. Now, their pricing has increased but very slightly to 6780yen/month. So, how do they earn then, if they are offering their services at just the same or just a little over the amount they pay their tutors?

Take note that learners pay on a monthly basis, at the least. That means they pay for 30 25-minute lessons per month regardless of whether they use them all up or not. Now, do they study English every single day?

Knowing how much your companies charge their learners should be a no-brainer thing to do before complaining and demanding for pay increase, or so I thought. So, it’s rather surprising that many tutors hope and demand for pay increase thinking that ESL companies are charging their learners tons of money while taking advantage of the tutors!

With that kind of mindset, any tutor would understandably feel degraded, demoralized, and undervalued and so, would naturally, complain. How about changing your mindset by learning more about the business?

This information I just shared is no secret. I urge you to learn about how much ESL companies charge their learners and that is not being sneaky or anything, because, again, there is nothing sacred about this information. It is and it should be available on their homepages. Learning more about ESL companies and how they run their business will give you a better perspective in the way you handle your current status as a tutor and will help you develop your own approach when you’re ready to go independent.

ESL companies are out there to offer opportunities to both tutors and learners. They are not there to “exploit” tutors, like how many tutors feel. If you really feel that their policies are unfair and demoralizing, then leave the company, look for a better one, or better yet, go independent and set your own rules and rate.

Asking or demanding a rate increase from ESL companies would mean that they have to increase their lesson fees. Considering their competition in the market, would that be a good idea for them? Do you think that’s feasible? While it may not be absolutely hopeless for them to increase their lesson fees then their pay for their tutors, the question is, is that rate increase you want, that which you think you deserve, worth the wait? By the time they finally give you that rate increase, the cost of living will have probably inflated just as well.

Bottomline is, learn more about your respective ESL companies to have realistic expectations and a better understanding why they only pay up to a certain amount. The very least you can get out of it is the fact that they are not out there to exploit you as a tutor and that should lighten up your negative feelings of being demoralized and undervalued.

You will then be in a better position and mindset to set your own goals with a more positive perspective and approach.

Cheers! 😉