I no longer live in KM but occasionally return to this site for a bit of updating. Yesterday and today I noticed teaching jobs paying as little as 70-80 yuan an hour and after a more thorough look-see it seems like the average salary is around 100-110. How can that be right? When I arrived 5 years ago I got 110 from my school and 200 for private lessons on the side. Considering the inflation in China that in reality is close to 10 percent and the growth of Kunming, schools really ought to be paying at least 150 by now, and probably closer to 200. Are there really that many foreigners in KM these days, that the competition alone can explain this?

Yeah, I noticed that. In Hebei last year I was getting 150 in schools. 250 for a private lesson. I don't know what's going on.

It has all been said on here before.
The free market is what has happened. Several things are going on.

For employers the teaching market is not the gold mine it used to be. There is far more competition in the market. The new rich kids are fully catered for and now the middle and lower middle and even working class families are looking for classes. Initially the growth led to a glut of students, now there is a glut of schools competing with each other and fees have gone down.
Also for employers, costs have gone up, including rents. Imagine being located in a fancy mall.

For teachers there is competitive pay. The job will go to the suitable person who is willing to work for lower pay. There are more expats coming to Kunming. Yes there are quality issues with some teaching (pay peanuts, get monkies, de—motivate then and get problems), but many owners of the private schools don't care about that TIC. They will just wrongly complain about inept and expensive teachers.

For the customer parent/student you get the McDonalds effect. All the little diners, some of which produced real quality, have been replaced by burger bars. There is only room in any market for a few centres of excellelence.

Public sector pay has not moved, but that is regulated.

Trend noticed on here. I have seen employers openly advertise crap pay (120) and others have taken this as an anchor/example and others are now also advertising crap pay.

What can we do? Not much as this is market forces. The new visa regulations will cause a blip in the teacher supply thing for the first wave, but actually could even force rates down as some employers will use some borderline legal cases to leverage rates down IMHO.
One thing we can do is hit the employer where it hurts, by wasting their time and money. Actually apply for jobs you are not going to take, send resume (use bogus hotmail address), change name and photo, do the phone interview etc, and when you are offered the job, don't turn up, and send an email later saying 'crap pay mate'. IF WE ALL DID THAT.

It's not just a kunming thing. I still get offers from Beijing offering literally the same pay as 9years ago.

What you can do is not take the job or ask for more pay. If you stupid or desperate enough to take a low pay like that you may deserve it. I'm noteven a native speaker and never been paid less than 200rmb, even for regular classes.

I disagree with Dazzer, there has never been higher demand for quality classes and fair pricing.The visa situation will be positive for teachers pay if you negotiate well and know your own worth. All of this goes for good/experienced teachers.

Customers will always say that they want quality. Espoused need.
But they will settle for lower based on what they are willing to pay. The actual demand.

There may be more people willing to pay for quality in number terms, but it may be a smaller share of a much bigger market than before. And there are more bottom feeders in the market than ever before.

Additionally, there are more of us big noses to meet the demand for teachers now.

And yes, it is the same across China.

Yep pay sucks.
Just a note, it is not always fair to do direct hourly comparisons for full time contracts, unless you look at the whole package, and weight other benefits.

Package for a full time gig usually includes
Retrurn flights
Visa (you often don't get this in PT work)
Paid holidays: odd days like DongWu, one month for spring festival.

Some places pay bonus (contrary to popular rumour I have never been stiffed on this one).
Some places accom included.
Some places accom allowance.
Some places even pay summer holidays (in full or a retainer) if you sign on for the following year.

Other benefits
Steady work, you know where you stand.
More job security
And in the public sector,
Most public schools/unis no weekends or evening classes.
Not having your schedule constantly changed,
Not having to cover for hung over colleagues who don't show.
Generally working in a more professional and collegiate atmosphere, with a less cranked up boss.

Like I said, pay sucks anyway. Some FT gigs can seem lower pay, but looking at the bigger picture most of my contracts have worked out about the same pay equiv (full package/hr) and the work is much less stressful.

Haina training centers only pays 100 RMB regardless of your experience. I believe so does Henderson. I guess that's why they can't keep teachers.

I see some people advertising all the time. Maybe they just can't get teachers for 120/hr.

Maybe the message is finally getting through. It time to raise those wages.

I see one school that's currently advertising for foreign teachers appears to think that it can hire them for Y100 per hour! Is that a joke? Students - yes. Backpackers/travellers - yes. Barflies - YES! Visa whores - maybe (if they can provide a visa). Teachers - erm, no. Qualified, experienced, dedicated teachers - NO CHANCE. Pay peanuts, get ....... .