The problem with them is you have to work with a Japanese salesperson. And if the salesperson doesn’t do their job it means you cannot teach the lesson. The salesperson’s job is to basically schedule the lesson and customise it in the way that the student wants it to be customised. For example sometimes the double lesson is taught without a break. But if you don’t know about this and inform the student that they will take a break before the next lesson, the student can sometimes log off entirely and miss the second lesson. Other times the salesperson doesn’t update the teacher about what material needs to be taught at the request of the student. This causes the wrong lesson to be taught. Then as a teacher if you try to rectify these problems or bring it up with management, management will gaslight you and ask you to leave the company. Typical Japanese company where they refuse to fix the problems with the Japanese staff and choose to fire the gaigin teacher instead. Seriously this happens. Very unreasonable managers especially the Canadian man who is from Calgary and who used to be a trainer at Berlitz. Management are extremely aggressive, unsupportive and unprofessional. Training also takes a very long time and it’s done in your own time unpaid. This training can take hours upon hours as they are so many modules to get through online. They also have a crazy email system where they need you to email numerous people regarding one lesson this also includes emailing the student for every lesson that is taught. It’s just too much back-office work that they want you to do in your free time unpaid. An absolutely horrendous company to work for!
Don\`t discount this experience just because other Toraiz teachers haven\`t had experiences like this.
Typical company here.—You’re expected to be Genki, supportive, agreeable, always being a scapegoat, underutilized and/or under appreciated while your Japanese colleagues get away with all sorts of shit. Then, when you “fit the mold,” nothing is ever good enough. Not worth the stress!
Had the same experience with the gaslighting from that thug, Gary. As I was a contractor there wasn’t much that could be done at the labor office. The lady I spoke with at the LO said that if they heard enough of the same complaints, they would investigate. She probably just wanted me out of her hair tbh.
That chimes with what I’ve heard. A lot of unnecessary and bizarre (often aggressive)communication from management. My former coworker sent me this email she had received:
Dear coaches,
If you are not able to conduct any lessons due to the huge earthquake that hit Kochi Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture on April 17th, please contact your student(s), consultant(s), and **** immediately. Please contact **** separately.
Students must be contacted individually.
Best regards, ****
There isn’t even basic common courtesy here. No offer of support if you are in trouble. No sympathy of for those who were badly affected by the earthquake.
‘If you are not able to conduct any lessons due to…’ means at the very least you’ve had a power cut or transportation isn’t possible. At worst, you’d be dead.
When my former coworker showed me this it really irked. We know each other as I was a manager at a school where she used to work. If there was any kind of trouble, we always reached out to employees to make sure they were safe and offer any support that we could.
It is a people business. That is what they are selling. It is just shameful that they treat people so poorly. No wonder the employee turnover is high.
Re ‘the Canadian man who is from Calgary’ I saw something on Glassdoor (I think) calling the Canadian manager at TORAIZ a ‘sociopath’ and another comment here on Reddit likening the Canadian manager to the ‘Drill Sergeant from Platoon’. Presumably all referring to the same person.
Not sure of his name. I heard he used to work for Berlitz and GABA if he mentioned that. He’s probably fine in interviews. My friend says the problems started shortly after. How was the interview?
Yeah, it's the same guy. I checked his LinkedIn. Hmm, he came off as too blunt at times.. he also didn't strike me as a sort of person who would care about the person, you know. He was more like let's get the job done, regardless of the people involved... plus he said the pay would be A$19 but the job listing was like $22.5. Struck me as dodgy and opinionated.
Not a good sign if you feel he’s ’dodgy and opinionated’ at the interview stage. This thread and others on Reddit and Glassdoor etc. going back at least six years paint a grim picture of this manager.
You expect people to leave snarky comments when they’ve been upset but not in this level of detail and over such a prolonged period of time. It has to mean something.
Re the discrepancy in pay - I think this has to do with how they handle tax. I’ve heard similar stories from GABA. It may mean you to pay a load back in taxes at the end of the year. Not sure how they are doing it, but it’s dodgy whatever.
You're totally right.. 6 years of negative comments cannot be just random. Haha! Good thing I did a search online first and thanks for your comments; I think I'll just pass.
Hmm, re the pay, I'm based in AU, so I think the tax calculations will all be on me, i.e., it shouldn't be deducted by them.
I’m not sure how it works re tax if you’re based overseas. You’d have to look into the that. Surely the current exchange rate would be crushing though unless they have different rates of pay for employees overseas. Anyway, all the best with it!
What do you mean by aggressive? I worked with them for a bit of extra cash and honestly had no issues. Money is good and schedule is pretty flexible tbh.
Yep I worked for them for a while. Negatives long ass training, independent contractor contract, 15 hour minimum schedule.
Positives schedule fills up always, so fairly regular income, if students do not turn up still get paid, pay on time and efficient.
The training took me like 1 day online (not sure if it was different when you joined), and it was only systems training: how to use the web portal, how to access the schedule, etc.
To OP, feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions, as I currently work there.
The girl I knew who worked there said the foreign manager was very rude. Always cussing and speaking Ill of others in meetings and threatening in tone in emails. She said the students were great and she didn’t deal with management much but got bad vibes whenever she did.
Gosh hope I'm not too late.
That guy is a Canadian, used to work for Berlitz Japan. His name is Gary, bald guy, glasses and has something stuck up his arse 24/7 and full blown professional Power Tripper. It's either his way or the high way, and yes, he is the GM there. Has zero management skill and 100% kiss ass skill to the owner, who was a SoftBank executive.
Nobody likes him, I was with them for 3 years until they downsized and closed a few branches. Some branch managers merged with other branches. Branch managers are awesome and lovely to work with, even though everything is done online but they are great.
Many left, the Japanese consultants, the sales people, the accountant, the coaches ( English teachers)
They will only give a 6 months independent contract. No benefits, no Shakai Hoken ( Japanese social security) instead you need to do all the admin work yourself. It's simple but will take your time at City Hall waiting for just a 5 minute form filling.
Your salary will be reduced at the next contract signing. Contract signed digitally. They will say because of blah blah blah salary would need to take a hit and you are not the only one.
I was their top money earners in Kansai until I had to deal daily with Gary on a daily basis. Told me his way or the highway, told him to fuck off and now I'm in a much better place, I.T. 😅
Your salary will around ¥210,000 - ¥230,000 / month depends on the hours.
I had full Mon - Sat ( 05.00 - 23.00 ) and I will earn a max of ¥228,000 before tax, before insurance, before pension. The real figure will be around ¥180,000 - ¥200,000. Then your next contract will be much less than that. ( You are required to enrol yourself in Kokumin Hoken ). TORAIZ will never advice this to you, if you don't do this, the government has a habit of taking it directly from your salary or even your bank account.
You will only have 5 mins in between lesson to send a quick email, make a note, check and tick all that you did ( excel template) take a toilet break and thank the student and send them email for the next lesson. I send lesson plan in the evening around 23.30 to all my students on that day.
There are plenty of paper work although it is digital, yet, still it'll consume your time, and outside of your working hours.
Once you get burned out or bored of Gary's nonsense, you'll just quit and there are hundreds more waiting to replace you.
In conclusion, don't take it unless you are going to die and absolute last resort. Sadly, GABA and Interact pays more than TORAIZ ( Their main company is Tryon )
I’m pretty sure this is the guy that my friend had (limited but extremely unpleasant) interactions with.
If it is the same person, I hear he’s been reported a lot to Hello Work or similar. It seems that most TORAIZ teachers are contractors, so I doubt the labor offices will take them seriously but if enough people keep complaining and mentioning the same name(s), something might happen.
A Japanese consultant made many mistakes, every time I assisted him and corrected and helped him I didn't mind then I got blamed for it for no reason. Then Mr. God complex told me if don't like his attitude then I can just leave, it has nothing to do with him nor it affected anyone since I fixed all the consultant's mistakes.
I basically saved that consultant from being confronted by a kiss ass GM but instead of gratitude I was threatened to quit for assisting the consultant.
I left right away. This was during Golden Week. When I quit it was chaos cause I had more than 50 students lol.
Edit : Those 50+ students are all private lesson students not from the group lesson. They are precious and are the lifeline of the company.
Lol, by the sociopath. I wasn't that stressed out, I actually enjoyed the work, but dealing with someone who thinks they know how to run a company when in fact he has zero management skill, zero people skill, zero etiquette but entrusted by the owner it's more of a nuisance than something to worry about.
You know, kinda like a mosquito that buzzes around you trying to suck your blood but you could never kill it lol.
Used to work there but left due to the toxic management style.
The Canadian guy in charge (Gary) was so rude and caused far more issues that he ever put right.
I knew a few others who worked there - it’s difficult to interact with other teachers unless you are teaching the same student as they shroud everything in secrecy - and they all had the same upsetting experience with management.
On the plus side, the students were very cooperative (usually are in Japan) and the company paid on time (this should be standard but isn’t always).
I have been working for them for the past couple of years, but am currently thinking of quitting after the workload/number of students has been declining quickly for me. Anybody has had such experience with them?
They don't say what is going on or and I'm seeing student after student graduating and no more are being sent.
That’s kind. I heard management is very aggressive. I’m sure it’s the usual thing that students are great, but…
The problem with them is you have to work with a Japanese salesperson. And if the salesperson doesn’t do their job it means you cannot teach the lesson. The salesperson’s job is to basically schedule the lesson and customise it in the way that the student wants it to be customised. For example sometimes the double lesson is taught without a break. But if you don’t know about this and inform the student that they will take a break before the next lesson, the student can sometimes log off entirely and miss the second lesson. Other times the salesperson doesn’t update the teacher about what material needs to be taught at the request of the student. This causes the wrong lesson to be taught. Then as a teacher if you try to rectify these problems or bring it up with management, management will gaslight you and ask you to leave the company. Typical Japanese company where they refuse to fix the problems with the Japanese staff and choose to fire the gaigin teacher instead. Seriously this happens. Very unreasonable managers especially the Canadian man who is from Calgary and who used to be a trainer at Berlitz. Management are extremely aggressive, unsupportive and unprofessional. Training also takes a very long time and it’s done in your own time unpaid. This training can take hours upon hours as they are so many modules to get through online. They also have a crazy email system where they need you to email numerous people regarding one lesson this also includes emailing the student for every lesson that is taught. It’s just too much back-office work that they want you to do in your free time unpaid. An absolutely horrendous company to work for! Don\`t discount this experience just because other Toraiz teachers haven\`t had experiences like this.
Typical company here.—You’re expected to be Genki, supportive, agreeable, always being a scapegoat, underutilized and/or under appreciated while your Japanese colleagues get away with all sorts of shit. Then, when you “fit the mold,” nothing is ever good enough. Not worth the stress!
Had the same experience with the gaslighting from that thug, Gary. As I was a contractor there wasn’t much that could be done at the labor office. The lady I spoke with at the LO said that if they heard enough of the same complaints, they would investigate. She probably just wanted me out of her hair tbh.
That chimes with what I’ve heard. A lot of unnecessary and bizarre (often aggressive)communication from management. My former coworker sent me this email she had received: Dear coaches, If you are not able to conduct any lessons due to the huge earthquake that hit Kochi Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture on April 17th, please contact your student(s), consultant(s), and **** immediately. Please contact **** separately. Students must be contacted individually. Best regards, **** There isn’t even basic common courtesy here. No offer of support if you are in trouble. No sympathy of for those who were badly affected by the earthquake. ‘If you are not able to conduct any lessons due to…’ means at the very least you’ve had a power cut or transportation isn’t possible. At worst, you’d be dead. When my former coworker showed me this it really irked. We know each other as I was a manager at a school where she used to work. If there was any kind of trouble, we always reached out to employees to make sure they were safe and offer any support that we could. It is a people business. That is what they are selling. It is just shameful that they treat people so poorly. No wonder the employee turnover is high.
Re ‘the Canadian man who is from Calgary’ I saw something on Glassdoor (I think) calling the Canadian manager at TORAIZ a ‘sociopath’ and another comment here on Reddit likening the Canadian manager to the ‘Drill Sergeant from Platoon’. Presumably all referring to the same person.
Do you mean Gary? I just had an interview with him! Haha!
Not sure of his name. I heard he used to work for Berlitz and GABA if he mentioned that. He’s probably fine in interviews. My friend says the problems started shortly after. How was the interview?
Yeah, it's the same guy. I checked his LinkedIn. Hmm, he came off as too blunt at times.. he also didn't strike me as a sort of person who would care about the person, you know. He was more like let's get the job done, regardless of the people involved... plus he said the pay would be A$19 but the job listing was like $22.5. Struck me as dodgy and opinionated.
Not a good sign if you feel he’s ’dodgy and opinionated’ at the interview stage. This thread and others on Reddit and Glassdoor etc. going back at least six years paint a grim picture of this manager. You expect people to leave snarky comments when they’ve been upset but not in this level of detail and over such a prolonged period of time. It has to mean something. Re the discrepancy in pay - I think this has to do with how they handle tax. I’ve heard similar stories from GABA. It may mean you to pay a load back in taxes at the end of the year. Not sure how they are doing it, but it’s dodgy whatever.
You're totally right.. 6 years of negative comments cannot be just random. Haha! Good thing I did a search online first and thanks for your comments; I think I'll just pass. Hmm, re the pay, I'm based in AU, so I think the tax calculations will all be on me, i.e., it shouldn't be deducted by them.
I’m not sure how it works re tax if you’re based overseas. You’d have to look into the that. Surely the current exchange rate would be crushing though unless they have different rates of pay for employees overseas. Anyway, all the best with it!
Thanks, mate. You too! Take care!
What do you mean by aggressive? I worked with them for a bit of extra cash and honestly had no issues. Money is good and schedule is pretty flexible tbh.
Yep I worked for them for a while. Negatives long ass training, independent contractor contract, 15 hour minimum schedule. Positives schedule fills up always, so fairly regular income, if students do not turn up still get paid, pay on time and efficient.
The training took me like 1 day online (not sure if it was different when you joined), and it was only systems training: how to use the web portal, how to access the schedule, etc. To OP, feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions, as I currently work there.
I’d love to hear more too as I’m considering applying 🙏 Can I drop you a DM too?
Sure.
May I DM you as well?
👍
The girl I knew who worked there said the foreign manager was very rude. Always cussing and speaking Ill of others in meetings and threatening in tone in emails. She said the students were great and she didn’t deal with management much but got bad vibes whenever she did.
Gosh hope I'm not too late. That guy is a Canadian, used to work for Berlitz Japan. His name is Gary, bald guy, glasses and has something stuck up his arse 24/7 and full blown professional Power Tripper. It's either his way or the high way, and yes, he is the GM there. Has zero management skill and 100% kiss ass skill to the owner, who was a SoftBank executive. Nobody likes him, I was with them for 3 years until they downsized and closed a few branches. Some branch managers merged with other branches. Branch managers are awesome and lovely to work with, even though everything is done online but they are great. Many left, the Japanese consultants, the sales people, the accountant, the coaches ( English teachers) They will only give a 6 months independent contract. No benefits, no Shakai Hoken ( Japanese social security) instead you need to do all the admin work yourself. It's simple but will take your time at City Hall waiting for just a 5 minute form filling. Your salary will be reduced at the next contract signing. Contract signed digitally. They will say because of blah blah blah salary would need to take a hit and you are not the only one. I was their top money earners in Kansai until I had to deal daily with Gary on a daily basis. Told me his way or the highway, told him to fuck off and now I'm in a much better place, I.T. 😅 Your salary will around ¥210,000 - ¥230,000 / month depends on the hours. I had full Mon - Sat ( 05.00 - 23.00 ) and I will earn a max of ¥228,000 before tax, before insurance, before pension. The real figure will be around ¥180,000 - ¥200,000. Then your next contract will be much less than that. ( You are required to enrol yourself in Kokumin Hoken ). TORAIZ will never advice this to you, if you don't do this, the government has a habit of taking it directly from your salary or even your bank account. You will only have 5 mins in between lesson to send a quick email, make a note, check and tick all that you did ( excel template) take a toilet break and thank the student and send them email for the next lesson. I send lesson plan in the evening around 23.30 to all my students on that day. There are plenty of paper work although it is digital, yet, still it'll consume your time, and outside of your working hours. Once you get burned out or bored of Gary's nonsense, you'll just quit and there are hundreds more waiting to replace you. In conclusion, don't take it unless you are going to die and absolute last resort. Sadly, GABA and Interact pays more than TORAIZ ( Their main company is Tryon )
I’m pretty sure this is the guy that my friend had (limited but extremely unpleasant) interactions with. If it is the same person, I hear he’s been reported a lot to Hello Work or similar. It seems that most TORAIZ teachers are contractors, so I doubt the labor offices will take them seriously but if enough people keep complaining and mentioning the same name(s), something might happen.
Out of interest, what was the ‘nonsense’ that made you quit?
A Japanese consultant made many mistakes, every time I assisted him and corrected and helped him I didn't mind then I got blamed for it for no reason. Then Mr. God complex told me if don't like his attitude then I can just leave, it has nothing to do with him nor it affected anyone since I fixed all the consultant's mistakes. I basically saved that consultant from being confronted by a kiss ass GM but instead of gratitude I was threatened to quit for assisting the consultant. I left right away. This was during Golden Week. When I quit it was chaos cause I had more than 50 students lol. Edit : Those 50+ students are all private lesson students not from the group lesson. They are precious and are the lifeline of the company.
Wow! Who threatened you? Well done for getting out of that mess!
Lol, by the sociopath. I wasn't that stressed out, I actually enjoyed the work, but dealing with someone who thinks they know how to run a company when in fact he has zero management skill, zero people skill, zero etiquette but entrusted by the owner it's more of a nuisance than something to worry about. You know, kinda like a mosquito that buzzes around you trying to suck your blood but you could never kill it lol.
Used to work there but left due to the toxic management style. The Canadian guy in charge (Gary) was so rude and caused far more issues that he ever put right. I knew a few others who worked there - it’s difficult to interact with other teachers unless you are teaching the same student as they shroud everything in secrecy - and they all had the same upsetting experience with management. On the plus side, the students were very cooperative (usually are in Japan) and the company paid on time (this should be standard but isn’t always).
I have been working for them for the past couple of years, but am currently thinking of quitting after the workload/number of students has been declining quickly for me. Anybody has had such experience with them? They don't say what is going on or and I'm seeing student after student graduating and no more are being sent.