I taught in Qingdao at a middling college a decade ago. At that time I had gotten the job through a Chinese recruiter. But I have recently been offered a similar Qingdao teaching position entailing the same hours, 16 classes a week, but unbelievably on the exact same salary, again through a Chinese recruiter! I know I'm not in my prime in terms of my age, but still! I turned down that derisory job offer at once, only 5,000 RMB a month, the air fare subsidy being just 6,000 RMB for a ten month contract.

I think the greed of the recruiters is likely to be the reason that that job offer was so unattractive. This has got me thinking; what percentage of the total monies available for a foreign expert's salary and other monetary perks ends up in the hands of Chinese recruiters?

I'd have thought the commission should be 5 percent, or maybe 10 percent at most, but I have a feeling it could be as high as 20 percent these days, what with the exaggerated emphasis on making money due to the lightning speed of China's development in recent years.

I'd be interested to know what percentage y'all estimate recruiter commission in China to be.