Young people in the United States struggling with job insecurity and housing costs are looking to Asian countries including South Korea, where teaching English abroad comes with housing support, airfare and health insurance. Some say they have gained both financial breathing room and greater job satisfaction than they had teaching at home.
Britain's Guardian reported on the 1st that a growing number of young people facing financial hardship in countries such as the United States and South Africa are moving abroad to take English teaching jobs in Asian countries including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Cut Rent by Living With Parents, Now Saving and Traveling in Korea
Ariana Marie, 25, who worked as an elementary school teacher in Florida, was deeply disillusioned with teaching as recently as a year ago. It was her first job after college, but a teacher shortage left classes overcrowded and she struggled to manage student behavior.
She cut living expenses by moving in with her parents to cope with high housing costs, but her situation did not improve. Recalling that period, Marie said she was "extremely burned out" and that "every class was overcrowded because of the teacher shortage."
After being offered a transfer to another school, she began looking into working overseas. She later found a job through an English teaching program in South Korea and now lives in Daegu.
The pay and benefits she receives in South Korea have changed her life considerably. Housing support, along with airfare and health insurance, reduced her living costs and allowed her to save money and travel. Her interest in Korean culture, including K-pop and Korean dramas, also influenced her decision to move.
The biggest change was how she felt about teaching. "I don't have to struggle to manage behavior problems, and both students and teachers respect me," Marie said. "Now I can focus entirely on teaching."
Marie joined a South Korean government English education program that places native English-speaking teachers with college degrees and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification in public schools. According to the Guardian, the program provides free housing, airfare support and health insurance, with salaries starting at about $1,400 a month, or roughly 1.91 million won.
Facing a Tough Job Market and Stagnant Wages at Home, Young Workers Look to Korea, Japan and Taiwan
Behind the growing interest in overseas jobs among young Americans is an increasingly unstable employment environment at home. A college degree no longer guarantees a stable job as it once did, and in many cases wage growth fails to keep pace with inflation even after finding work.
In the public sector and in teaching in particular, workers continue to leave their jobs citing low pay and heavy workloads. The fact that the unemployment rate for recent U.S. college graduates seeking work has run higher than the overall unemployment rate since the COVID-19 pandemic is also cited as a factor pushing people to consider working abroad.
The trend is not limited to the United States. Zwiwe Dlamini, 28, who worked as an administrative assistant in Durban, South Africa, also chose to move to South Korea to escape repetitive work and a difficult job market. She quit after growing exhausted by office tasks such as taking meeting minutes and preparing for meetings.
She spent the next six months looking for a new job, but South Africa's high youth unemployment rate made finding work difficult. She eventually turned to opportunities abroad and now works as an English teacher in Incheon through the same program as Marie.
Dlamini also sharply reduced living costs with housing support in South Korea. She has been able to pay down debt while saving for travel and preparing to apply to graduate school.
"A year ago I couldn't have imagined a situation like this," she said. "Back then I couldn't even properly afford food and debt was piling up, but now I'm grateful that I can pay off my debt and still enjoy life."
Japan and Taiwan are also expanding full-time hiring of English teachers, drawing young foreign workers. Analysts say the benefits they offer, including housing support, are attracting young people who want a more stable life than they can find at home.
