In 1994, the balance of 'power' tilted slightly in favor of the employer. The applicants were mostly older white males desperate to stay, there weren't that many Filipinos and other nationalities hadn't yet figured out how easy it was to con your way into a job here...

Fast forward a quarter of a century and the balance of power is still in favor of the employer but by a much larger margin.

While it's true that there are a lot more schools and businesses that are looking for 'teachers', the number of people wanting to fill those roles has absolutely exploded.

Also, in 1994, there was a lot less enforcement of the regulations and almost anyone could find work of some kind or another. As word of this got out, the pool of (un)talent spilled over from mostly white men to pretty much anyone who didn't look they were from Thailand. This includes a generation of braver women who were willing to 'give it a go'.

Right now there are plenty of jobs all year round, but the competency of the labor force is at an all-time low. Basically, parents are being conned into paying for unskilled people at unskilled wage levels.

The smart ones will have started at the low end and quickly worked their way up through either commonsense, ambition or re-training. But that still leaves a big pile of poo at the bottom which no amount of disinfectant can flush away...

...thus no real wage increases! ?

Mark