Concerned

At first it was amusing. Now it's getting serious:


Some staff still haven't been paid. Rumours milling around* include closing 200 of the 900 branches especially many kids schools, evicting teachers from Nova apartments, not covering accidents on the Nova Insurance company, and teachers leaving en masse. Above all, it looks more and more likely that bankruptcy is looming.

I feel bad for the students, who will lose their money. I feel bad for the Japanese staff who are mostly newly-graduated girls with little financial support to fall back on. I feel bad for the long-term teachers who are fully living and integrated into Japan; where will they go, especially if suddenly 7000 teachers find themselves job-hunting.

But mostly, I feel terrible for a) prospective teachers and b) new teachers. For those not yet in Japan, I think it is disgraceful that Nova will not inform them of this financial situation. I have tried through several routes to speak to management about this, but have so far not had a proper answer.

And for those that are new to Japan, they must feel angry at what they have walked in on. Bear in mind that teachers pay their flights, and many will not have the funds to buy a return ticket if worst comes to worst.

In Australia, Nova is relatively famous and it made the newspapers:

HUNDREDS of foreign English teachers in Japan were anxiously awaiting overdue wages from language school NOVA yesterday, amid speculation that the corporate giant was edging closer to collapse.

The country's foreign workers' union said it could "only hedge a guess that up to 3000" English teachers, many of whom are young Australians, went without pay last Friday and were left waiting nervously over Japan's long weekend for the money.

"But at the very least there are hundreds of them. My phone hasn't stopped," said Louis Carlet, from the National Union of General Workers. Some teachers said they were owed thousands of dollars, while others posted messages on websites over the weekend to say they were quitting in disgust.

"I've never felt so defeated in my whole life," said 24-year-old American teacher Jerry Johnston, who was considering leaving Japan after just two months but could not afford the plane ticket.

It is the second time in two months that NOVA has paid staff late. A recent slide in the company's stock price followed news of a delay in payments to some of its 2000-odd Japanese staff last month.

NOVA employs roughly 7000 foreigners — more than any other Japanese company. Australians make up the backbone of its 5000-strong teaching staff. The company has more than 400,000 students, accounting for the biggest share of Japan's multibillion-dollar private English teaching industry.

CEO Nozomu Sahashi issued a statement to staff at some branches last Friday to say it had "not been possible to complete all the necessary operations to deposit instructor salaries … Salaries will be deposited by September 19."

But Mr Carlet told The Age: "I'm getting reports that they have been cut off by their stationary suppliers, and delivery services, because they're not able to pay them. "They could be on the verge of going under at any moment. It's very serious."

Mr Johnston said: "A lot of us are nervous. Really nervous. We're looking for jobs but being told that companies aren't hiring within Japan. And we haven't even made enough money to buy a plane ticket home."

Justin Norrie, Tokyo
September 19, 2007
theage.com.au

I'd never heard of the company in Britain, and I really am concerned about how messy this could get.

*some are true, some are stretching the truth and others, who knows...