In the last week of August 2009, Footprints was contacted by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) to let us know that they had over accepted and that almost 100 teachers who had been accepted for teaching jobs and who were in various states of departure readiness would not be required to teach with the SMOE. They informed all the recruiters they were working with and required each recruiter to cut positions from teachers who had already been offered contracts, many of whom already had visas and some of whom already had plane tickets.
When our Footprints Placement Coordinator Dave Harvey first learned about this situation while he was in Korea receiving public school teachers at the Incheon airport he took immediate action to ensure Footprints teachers were best accomodated and re-situated as quickly as possible. Footprints Korea General Manager Scott Kim immediately followed up with the Ministry of Education, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and with Ben Glickman, co-owner of Footprints Recruiting. As the largest supplier of teachers to public school teaching opportunities in South Korea, this situation was to dramatically affect 26 Footprints teachers.
Immediately Footprints went to work to see what we could do to salvage our teachers' jobs. We were able to re-position several teachers with various other Ministries of Education around Korea, we were able to guarantee first placement status with some teachers for February placements with the SMOE, we were able to negotiate with the airlines to honour plane tickets for departures any time within a 365 day period so that teachers could use the airfare to travel to Korea for work as soon as their jobs were solidified and we communicated with each teacher affected personally. Ben Glickman, co-owner of Footprints personally called each teacher and spoke with them at length about the situation, Footprints' response to this situation and the possible opportunities or alternatives each teacher had to explore.
"Ultimately this was a terrible situation", says Footprints co-owner Jeff Strachan. "Footprints is always trying to put forward the best impression for the industry as a whole and we undertake to represent only those opportunities that are genuine and professional. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education offers this in all their jobs. This is an incredibly unfortunate mistake, one that the SMOE is extremely apologetic about and one that we are committed to resolving for our teachers in the best way possible for each and every one of them."
Ben Glickman, who has been placing teacher in Korea since 2001 says, "This is an unprecedented situation for us and for one of our clients. We have treated this is a priority one emergency to ensure our teachers are first up to bat when SMOE is considering teachers and we are effectively working with the SMOE administrators to help them come to terms with what has happened and to help them deal with this situation as effectively as possible."
When asked what happened Ben Glickman could only comment that "when time permits there will be an inquiry into the situation but at the moment we are working to find the best possible outcomes for our teachers."
We are pleased to report that as a result of our close ties with airlines, with the Ministry of Education in Korea and our great relationship with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, we were able to get complete refund for teachers with tickets, we were able to get 1 year grace use periods on others and we were able to re-position 24 of the 26 teachers, 2 electing to pursue opportunities in other countries.
Although a terrible situation, Footprints responded with integrity and honesty to help re-position teachers and make this unfortunate situation as positive as possible.
This is just another reason why Footprints is the first choice for teachers heading overseas.
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“I had been teaching ESL in Europe and Asia for four years when I contacted Footprints. Before I found Footprints, I was independently searching for a position in Seoul and I was extremely hesitant to pursue any of the contracts that I was offered. The schools and other recruiting firms that I came into contact with were offering contracts with suspicious clauses and inadequate housing. I knew that Ben and Jeff ran a professional service as soon as I spoke to them on the phone. I have since completed my one year contract in Seoul and can honestly say that everything went well from beginning to end. Although Korea is not always the easiest place to live, Footprints makes the transition so much smoother. Footprints is upfront, honest and dependable. I would highly recommend their service for anyone considering teaching abroad and would not hesitate to re-sign with Footprints in the future.”
