Spain Economic Worries

[Tweedy]

Hi everyone,

I was thinking about moving to Spain this year/next year and teaching there. However I have been reading about their troubles with the economy (over 20% unemployed) and was wondering if it will be especially difficult to find work because of this?

If anyone has any information regarding this it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tweedy

[debralondon]

I have been teaching in Spain - Madrid - for 11 months and am about to return to London for the summer. My experience has been mixed. There have definitely been cuts to training budgets in companies - I lost some contracts due to the "crisis". There are also some schools that have gone out of business. It is much more expensive to live in Madrid than it was and the exchange rate is a nightmare. I would say if you have solid qualifications and experience you will find work here. You may find hourly rates are also not as high as they were especially for academies with public sector or government contracts who have been squeezed on price. On the plus side, people are looking to improve their English skills to be competitive in the job market and have time to study while they are redundant. My advice? Be realistic about coming and have plenty of money behind you. I plan to come back and hope that things will improve as Spain IS coming out of the recession.

[Tweedy]

Thanks for that Debra, it's something I'll definitely have to think about before making a decision.

Tweedy

[debralondon]

Hmm just revisiting my post! It is almost a year later and the recession is still biting here. I am not returning until September to teach but visiting this weekend and meeting my teacher friends, they are all saying they are swamped with work. Times are hard though and I suspect they are working harder for their euros as students need to improve their English to improve job prospects and they are also often unemployed. I hope things start to get better soon especially for graduates.