I'm not sure where this post is going to go. It could get negative and rambling, but who knows.
I'll start out by saying that the ESL/EFL outsourcing business in Japan is
very ripe for abuse. There are a lot of factors that contribute to it:
- Negative attitude of law enforcement towards foreigners
- Slightly negative attitude of people in general towards foreign EFL teachers
- Lax labor laws / application of labor laws for foreign workers
- Large pool of people willing to go to Japan for little in return
- Large pool of people who don't know/understand what they can do re: labor rights
- 'Eikaiwa' schools have been in decline for years, forcing cutbacks
I'm still doing some research on Interac, but there are a handful of strong red flags that it's sending up. Among them:
- Recently bought (last fall) and is now managed by Advantage Partners. Recent acquisitions usually mean 'restructuring' and some layoffs, especially given the declining demand for EFL teachers and generally sluggish economy
- I may be misreading it, but it appears their net worth is 50m yen (or about $610,000). That's suspiciously low for a company that has upwards of 1600 staff.
-
THEY'RE NOT PAYING FOR YOUR TRANSPORTATION COSTS. That's something private companies are supposed to do. If anyone says that that's not normal, it's -Dung Beetle- meant to trick people into 'paying to work' and a way of shoving risks onto the employee.
Besides that, there are the usual mix of negative and positive reports from people who have worked for them. The reviews put them on the same level as all the other EFL-outsourcers--which is to say, not all that good, considering how the industry is one where abuse is rather easy. But the three things above are the biggest red flags that I think are the most suspicious. There are some other more minor things (e.g., it's hard to find info about them, or about their CEO/SEO) but I don't want to get bogged down in details.
Nobiyuki77 wrote:I did some looking around and it seems that after NOVA went under, there was a lot of pressure for all of the various companies like AEON, GEOS (and probably Interac too) to clean up their act.
NOVA's problem wasn't entirely internal--they weren't unethical for the sake of screwing their employees so much as unethical because they were facing serious financial problems (*opinion, I could be mistaken*). The pressure on other companies would be only for things they can control, but the financial problems can still be there.
Nobiyuki77 wrote:So if absolutely nothing else, if my experience with Interac turns out to be miserable, I'll still be in the area and hopefully be able to look around. I also have a couple of friends there (one a former JET) who I can ask for help to look for something new.
Visa restrictions may prevent you from doing this. Most work-visa requirements prohibit earning money on the side (although many find informal ways around that), if you were to quit first then you might have to leave the country in less time than you have to find a new job, and if you continue working then you might not have time to find another employer.
Nobiyuki77 wrote:I'm mentally preparing myself for the idea that Interac isn't the world's greatest company, but by the very same token, I'm also out of options. One of the biggest obstacles I've had in trying to get a job in Japan is that, well, I'm not there. ... But if I don't take this opportunity, I never will. I'll second guess every company I look at, and then I'll always look back and wonder if it'd have been fine going with them. I failed to get into JET twice, so sadly I consider that option dead.
This brings me to another big question: Why is it so important that you get a job in Japan?
My concern is that there're a lot of other people in the same position: really wanting to live in Japan (for whatever reason), and having gotten rejected by JET once or twice. That strong desire to go is what EFL-outsourcers take advantage of, because the personal value of just being in the country is high enough to offset the lower wages they offer (and other substandard treatment, like forced overwork, paying for expenses they should be handling, etc.).
Personally speaking, I could do a 1-2 year stint in Japan, but I wouldn't want to live there for much longer than that (and even then, I'd feel more comfortable if that 1-2 year stint were with my current employer). Having known a few people who immigrated there, some who'd been living there for decades (mostly from South and Southeast Asia), the climate isn't all that great for immigrants, and the longer you plan to stay, the more problems you'll encounter--the reason they stayed is the main motivation for most immigrants: money, safety, better opportunities, etc., and none of those really apply to most EFL teachers.
So, whenever I hear someone
really dead-set on living in Japan, I have to find out the reason why...
Nobiyuki77 wrote:All real concerns that I've thought about, and I do have some money behind me (and thankfully if the dragon diamond really hit the fan, my parents would be more than happy enough to buy my ticket home so long as I pay them back. They've lent me money in the past that I've always paid back, so they trust me on this.)
So that I'm not entirely negative here, I'll end on this note. It is a relief that you've already considered a lot of this. There are some recommendations I have, or more so some things that I think you should be willing to do if the need arises:
- Make it clear that you're willing and able to leave the country at any time.
- Actually be willing to go back home if you need to.
- If your employer 'skips' a payment, refuse to work until you've been paid.
- If your employer insists that you pay for a business expense, refuse. (Travelling counts, though commuting does not.)
- Refuse to work unpaid overtime.
- On that note, if I were you then I'd send a note to Interac that I can't afford paying my own way to get there, and that they'd need to cover the expense.
Lastly, I'm not saying that you shouldn't take the opportunity. I
am saying that it's a significant risk and it may not be worth it, however. But there are some things you can do to mitigate that risk. KF