G.communication announced as sponsor for Nova

November 7, 2007
By Ken Worsley

It looks like the speculation from the Nikkei article from a few days back turned out to be spot on, at least so far. On Monday, the Nikkei wrote that given Nova’s financial situation, a breakup of the company would be possible, and, “With a thorough evaluation of its assets yet to be conducted, listed companies would likely hesitate to come to its rescue.”

A sponsor for Nova was announced tonight, which is good news. However, it falls far short of looking like a setup that will provide enough jobs now, and thus the plan is less than what we could call encouraging, and the details we’ve seen so far leave us wondering what sort of further offers might follow through, if any are even going to be possible from this point.

As the Nikkei predicted, Nova’s first announced sponsor is not a listed firm. It is privately held G.communication of Nagoya, which is a Kabushiki Kaisha that is 74.35% held by its founder and president, Masaki Inayoshi. According to his bio, Mr Inayoshi was born in Aichi Prefecture on July 3, 1969 and graduated from the faculty of literature at Aichi Gakuin University in 1992. He founded Gambaru Gakuen in 1994 and incorporated G Communications in 1996 (1997 according to the company information page).

G.communication operates a number of brands through both franchise and direct management, and seems to specialize in the operational management of such firms, along with building brands and consulting in the sectors it operates within. Among the firms it operates in the education sector are ITTO (687 schools), Gambaru Gakuen (184 schools), EC English (41 schools), and GRIP (1 school).

In the food and dining sector it operates Yakinikuya Sakai, Sendai Hiraroku, Toriaizu Gohei and 43 other brands. Yakiniku Sakai, with 155 locations, is the largest, while 15 of the brands consist of one shop.

We don’t yet have the full details of the deal, but here is what the Nikkei is telling us so far: G.communication is set to take over 30 Nova schools, with an aim to quickly open up to 200. It seems as though after this transfer of Nova’s business happens, the remainder of Nova’s operations will go into liquidation proceedings. G Education, a subsidiary of G.communication, will inherit Nova’s Ekimae Ryugaku, Ochanoma Ryugaku (Videophone lessons) and Nova Kids operations. Nova students will be able to resume taking lessons by paying 25% of lesson fees.

G.communication certainly seems to have cut a deal for itself. It appears to assume no responsibility whatsoever for Nova’s liabilities while acquiring a low-risk stake in the company. According to non-published reports and sources, instructors will have to resign (or be fired - this point is not yet clear) from Nova and rehired by G.communication. This will leave salary obligations as an issue to be settled as part of Nova’s liquidation proceedings. It seems as though refunds and back rent will be handled in t he same manner.

I’m not going to get into whether or not this will work for G.communication right now. I have some thoughts on that, but this isn’t the time.

It seems what we have here is a situation where 30 schools will be up and running soon - by Thursday perhaps. I can’t see this being more than 400 instructors, 250 staff and the relevant administrative personnel. I think these numbers are a tad high, but G.communications might be looking to bring on more people than initially necessary in order to have them ready for expansion. I could be wildly wrong here, so it will be good to see the actual numbers, hopefully tomorrow.

This is something, but not nearly good enough. When might the operation be beefed up to 200 schools? We still have no clue. Is there a chance that teachers going to work for G.communication will be paid before December? We’ve heard no details yet on the possibility of salary advances. Is there any guarantee that G.communication have to hire back Nova teachers?

There seems to be bigger downsides to this deal for the Nova employees who have been waiting since October 26th for the bankruptcy administrators to find a sponsor. The first problem is that the majority might not be re-employed. There is not yet any news on housing or housing assistance for those who need it. We also have no idea if the goal of opening 200 schools in such a short time is realistic. Even then, G.communication is talking about rehiring 2,000 people total, and this number seems very high.

The real problem I see so far is with the one English Conversation School that G.communication operates (EC English). Their website does not have much to get excited about, and there are some bad stories floating around about them - but again, just stories.

The true downside seems to be that this is it. If the Nikkei is right, G.communication will take their share and the rest of Nova will be liquidated. I had been hoping (but not really expecting) that some sort of regional breakup would happen, and that more people would be able to keep their jobs. I did not expect anyone to assume Nova’s liabilities, but thought there was a possibility that more than one sponsor could be found. Hopefully this part of the Nikkei article was rushed to print…

To tell the truth, I’m trying to be positive, but I’m biting my tongue to prevent myself from calling this a farce.

This post will certainly be updated and edited as further information becomes available, and it will be noted in the text.

All posts on this site related to Nova can be browsed here.

Filed Under Business, Nikkei, Nova

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Related Posts:
A sponsor for Nova? The Nikkei remains doubtful
Friday the 14th: Will NOVA Pay?
And then there was one: Two more potential Nova buyers say no
The Nova Situation: Japan Economy News in the Japan Times and on Radio New Zealand
Big Market Moves for NOVA: 29% Drop in Share Price Amidst Huge Selloff on Wednesday, Over 20 Million Shares Change Hands

Comments

61 Responses to “G.communication announced as sponsor for Nova”

Kraig on November 7th, 2007 2:26 am

It’s worse than a farce, but the bankruptcy lawyers didn’t have much to work with and almost no time. Saruhashi destroyed this company rather than reforming it, if that was possible. If this is the only deal, it’s the end of the road for a lot of people’s time in Japan.
Bill909 on November 7th, 2007 3:45 am

I remember reading somewhere that 2 sponsors had been selected for Osaka and one for Tokyo, but I don’t have anything to back that up, so don’t quote me. I agree though, alot of people are going to have to go home. From what I’ve heard from a lot of my coworkers, they were pretty much planning on it. Heres hoping that those that need jobs get them, students don’t get ripped off more than they already have and that I see something resembling my unpaid wages.
On behalf of the Lay on November 7th, 2007 9:58 am

I guess Nova had a restructuring plan in the works that envisioned such an eventuality, and that it’s unlikely that more school could have been re-opened sooner, if at all, according to the plan. The deal is a paltry one, to be sure, but were we expecting anything even remotely dazzling?
Garrett on November 7th, 2007 10:58 am

G. Communications is going to have a hard time luring students back after they were burned and Nova’s competitors are honoring Nova points where Nova’s reincarnation is not.

On top of that, I fear that this deal will give far too many Nova teachers false hope. 30 schools means maybe 300, tops. That still leaves thousands out of a job. On top of that (and I don’t mean this as a dig), the very people the company most needs - those who are most experienced, talented, and motivated - are also most likely to have found other jobs some time ago.

Besides, doesn’t G. specialize in turning around failing izakaya? Do they have what it takes to turn around an eikaiwa-gakko? Do they have any intention of sticking with it if, as is likely, it starts off making large losses?
M on November 7th, 2007 12:55 pm

This seems like a horrible joke for both NOVA staff (teachers included) and students. My wife was reading a Japanese report on this last night (can’t ask her right now where but I post later) that basically all G. Communications wants is the student list for marketing purposes. Don’t know how true that its but it would most probably the most expensive contact list on the market.

For NOVA teachers and students that don’t wish to go with G. Communications. There is a site being developed to assist them to find eacher other for private lessons, with the goal of assisting teachers to develop independent teaching businesses.

It can be found at http://www.yasashiieigo.com
Kraig on November 7th, 2007 2:09 pm

M I think you’re wife is right. This company owns a bunch of chains and this just gives them 300,000 more mailboxes to stuff with coupons and postcards. They might get some people coming in on the other end, but they’ll have to get rid of that Nova name sometime soon.
J-Meister on November 7th, 2007 5:29 pm

G spot won’t make it. the poor students have to pay more!
plus so many locations will not be around anymore. not enough
teacheers will get jobs. I have a feeling G Spot is just trying
to get more students. they will NEVER open up 200 schols, but rather
add students to the schools they have and then later say that they
cannot expand due to financial reasons. This way, they look good
to the public, get students and the public will forget about this
in a couple of years…
trev on November 7th, 2007 6:27 pm

I can’t see much coming of it. If they want to lure the students back long-term, they’ll need to offer lessons similar to what Nova was doing at a similar price. That means they need Nova staff and teachers to run the schools, but I suspect they’ll only get the most desperate to sign up. They’ll lose the most skilled people and end up with a lot of bitter teachers and staff who will stay only as long as it takes to save enough to move on. Then they’ll need to hire and train new people, but will have lost the infrastructure and experienced staff needed to do that. All they’re getting is the brand and a list of students.
billy shears on November 7th, 2007 10:23 pm

“G-spot won’t make it” ?
I would say they’ve already made themselves quite a nice little killing. 30 very profitable schools in prime locations (plus a 400,000 customer list) acquired with minimal risk and no liabilities. And, apparently, no real commitment to do anything else.
They’ve also got the rights to take over the ginganet operation. They could either keep that or sell it off. Those students who splashed out on those expensive web cameras won’t really want to trash them.
Cervantes on November 7th, 2007 10:26 pm

My wonder is how long will NOVA lawyers be able to delay a banckrupcy anouncement once this “kind sponsor” removes the most profitable branches and the MMC from the whole.
Garrett on November 7th, 2007 10:58 pm

Another thing to be considered is that there’s no guarantee that C.communications will necessarily hire former Nova teachers, is there? Granted, hiring some would be expedient, but, if G. wants to make money at this, they have to make the best possible impression up front to overcome the bad publicity associated with the name “Nova.” This means they need a highly customer-satisfying product, which means they’ll need instructors who trained, experienced, and fun - this may well include former Nova employees, but will not be limited to them.

I agree with J-Meister. Nova’s 30 most profitable schools, dropping the baggage - that could work. 200 schools is unrealistic. They’ll get 30 schools turning a profit, maybe some very cautious expansion, then try to sell.

I also think M’s wife is probably right - the customer list will be one of the most valuable things G. gets from this purchase.
billy shears on November 7th, 2007 11:48 pm

(6) Security of employment
Regarding the employment of all Nova employees, including those in subsidiary companies (including foreign instructors and foreign staff), this will be given the best consideration and in principle the new sponsor will hire those employees who wish to be hired by them. We will set up a briefing session for employees soon. Please wait until we make a further announcement.

As can be seen from the above Nova announcement, there is no commitment whatsoever from this company. It’s also probable that “those employees who wish to be hired by them” will be offered minimal salaries.
I think all interested parties will want to know exactly what the other prospective sponsors put on the table. They may also want to ascertain that neither Sahashi or any of his cronies have an interest in g.education !
WG on November 7th, 2007 11:49 pm

“I would say they’ve already made themselves quite a nice little killing. 30 very profitable schools in prime locations (plus a 400,000 customer list) acquired with minimal risk and no liabilities.”

One the one hand yes. But, let’s consider:

If this deal is so great, why wasn’t a listed firm interested?
If this deal is a ‘killing’, why was this the best deal?

Finally, and what might turn out to be the most important: Why has a firm (G.communications) that has already been investigated by the government for shady financial transactions and using dodgy fund-raising methods the only one that would step forward? Was there no one legitimate to step in?

I’m wondering why this aspect of the firm has not been discussed yet, given that it’s in the media and I know there are some J Media readers/watchers posting here.
Ken Worsley on November 7th, 2007 11:55 pm

As can be seen from the above Nova announcement, there is no commitment whatsoever from this company.

Billy, I agree with you completely. That has to be one of the most vaguely worded ways of saying, “We’re not saying anything about the matter” I’ve ever seen.

I don’t see a 100% commitment to rehiring former staff and teachers there, though we have no evidence yet that something else will happen. After all, these are people who need work (in a vacuum of HR management), and people will ‘cheaper’ salaries are bound to have little trouble securing employment.
Bob on November 8th, 2007 12:19 am

anyone know which schools have been chosen by these ‘g’ people?
Guy on November 8th, 2007 10:57 am

Cervantes,

[quote]My wonder is how long will NOVA lawyers be able to delay a banckrupcy anouncement once this “kind sponsor” removes the most profitable branches and the MMC from the whole.[/quote]

I guess you didn’t read all the news? The rest of the company will be liquidated once G.Comunication takes over. The lawyers don’t have to delay something that has already been announced, do they?
Guy on November 8th, 2007 11:07 am

Garret,

“Another thing to be considered is that there’s no guarantee that C.communications will necessarily hire former Nova teachers, is there? Granted, hiring some would be expedient, but, if G. wants to make money at this, they have to make the best possible impression up front to overcome the bad publicity associated with the name “Nova.” This means they need a highly customer-satisfying product, which means they’ll need instructors who trained, experienced, and fun - this may well include former Nova employees, but will not be limited to them.”

Your “but, if G. wants to make money” and “may well include, but will not be limited to” cast aspersions on the quality of Nova teachers. You make it sound like Nova teachers are rarely ‘trained, experienced, and fun’ and that many of them won’t ‘make the best possible impression’. My question to you would be have you ever asked Nova students about their level of satisfaction and enjoyment with their teachers lessons at their branch?

Numbers wise I understand some non-Nova teachers may be hired, because so many teachers will have split by now, back home or to new jobs, and it’s only natural for G. to look for who they want, but I felt you were putting down the Nova teachers unreasonably.
Cervantes on November 8th, 2007 3:02 pm

Guy,

Your guess was wrong, but understable due to my lack comunication skills, sorry, just an ex NOVA instructor here, nowadays not so funny, but still trained in NOVA teaching and experienced too, yeah.

From what they announce they are gonna do and when, to what they will finnally do, guess may be some difference… lets say I wonder how long will take the whole process to finnish with some money in my bank account, if any.
Garrett on November 8th, 2007 5:44 pm

Guy, I think you’re being a little defensive. I’m sorry if you feel I’m casting aspersions on Nova teachers. However, I have gone to great lengths on JEN to avoid just such a generalization. I don’t think saying that some Nova teachers are “trained, experienced, and fun” while some are not, or that those skills can be found outside of the set of former Nova teachers as well is casting an aspersion at all.

I have talked to a great number of Nova students over the years, including recently - some were thrilled with their experience there, others were not. The fact is that Nova had a re-up rate comparable to its competitors’ - somewhere in the neighborhood of three to seven percent. If the product were the best it could be, mass cancellations would have been less of a problem. Is this the fault of Nova teachers? Of course not. But it is true that there are agreat many young, inexperienced, untrained people in Nova’s teaching workforce. This does not mean those people are bad or incompetent, simply that they are young, inexperienced, and untrained. Remedying such a situation takes time and money that G is unlikely to want to put into this.

As I said above, the most experienced, trained, and motivated teachers are also those most likely to have found other jobs. Not always, but not never either.

There is nothing inherently good or bad about Nova employees. There was a limiting factor in the company, though, that discouraged motivated or experienced teachers, which, again, leads to the demographic that there is.

All I was saying above was that there was no guarantee that Nova teachers would be whom G wanted. (There’d also be a good chance of Nova employees being more than a little bit, understandably, disgruntled.)

This, though, has since changed. Rumor has it G. wants to hire back all of Nova’s employees - impossible considering they want to open 30 schools, but a decision that seems to mean, at least, that Nova teachers will get preference.
JMeister on November 8th, 2007 8:45 pm

Billy boy-

I know you are still praying for a Nova comeback. They have
made no killing at all. They need to resign these students
to make money. In fact, they’ll only be getting 25% from them
to begin with and that might not be enough to “make a killing”.

Keep hoping though buddy. Any interviews?
Guy on November 8th, 2007 10:55 pm

Garret, thankyou for your clarification. I just think that when you said “they have to make the best possible impression up front to overcome the bad publicity associated with the name Nova” it seemed that you were linking the bad publicity to the instructors, and they have nothing to do with all the bad publicity surrounding the company at the moment.
Ron Vanden on November 8th, 2007 11:47 pm

FYI, from the interim trustees…

November 8, 2007

All staff and instructors

Nova Corporation
Interim Trustees
Toshiaki Higashibata
Noriaki Takahashi

Concerning Nova Corporation (hereafter referred to as Nova), it was found that it was difficult for the company to recover without the support of a sponsor and, as there has been some urgency since the value of the business is eroded with each day that passes, we the trustees have been focusing on selecting a sponsor. We now inform you that G.communication Co. has been selected as a sponsor (it is planned that the actual transferee will be its group company G.education Co.). Business property for Nova’s main businesses (Ekimae Ryugaku, Nova Kids, Ochanoma Ryugaku) will be handed over to the sponsoring company in the near future and business operations will resume promptly as a new Nova, managed by this new sponsor.

Regarding you, the employees, (including those of affiliated companies) we inform you that the sponsor has made an arrangement in which the employees, in principle, will be employed by the transferee following an interview.

Also the transferee has offered to consider providing some interim livelihood support to the newly hired employees, according to the circumstances of each person as discussed in the interview.

For the previous unpaid wages, they will be paid within a certain range and under certain conditions through the unpaid wage reimbursement system by The Japan Labor, Health and Welfare Organization. Regarding the procedure to prepare the required document(s), we will inform you of this at a later late; it is expected to take several months for the unpaid wages to be paid to you.

Please refer to the organization’s website （http://www.rofuku.go.jp/）for an explanation of this system.
【Information session for employees】

We inform you that there will be information sessions for employees held on the following date/times.

Following each session it is planned that a government agency information seminar will be held regarding related matters at the same venue.

Please note that those who are not employees are not permitted to enter the venue.
Date and times: November 10, 2007 10:00 and 14:00
Location:

1.Nova Multimedia Center
Kintetsu Shin Namba Bldg, 16F and 17 1-4-38 Minatomachi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka-shi
(We ask that if possible Multimedia Center instructors attend the 10:00 session, and Kansai branch instructors attend the 14:00 session)

2. Nova Tokyo Head Office
Shinjuku NS Building 23F 2-4-1 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
(We ask that if possible instructors from area 2, area 4 and area 8 attend the 10:00 session and Kanto branch instructors from other areas attend the 14:00 session)

3. Some branch locations (to be announced)

* The content of the session starting from 10:00 and that of the session starting from 14:00 will be the same, so please do not attend both seminars as the capacity of the meeting place is limited.
Guy on November 9th, 2007 12:10 am

http://www.nova.ne.jp/information/announce-071108-2-en.html

Concerning Nova Corporation (hereafter referred to as Nova), it was found that it was difficult for the company to recover without the support of a sponsor and, as there has been some urgency since the value of the business is eroded with each day that passes, we the trustees have been focusing on selecting a sponsor. We now inform you that G.communication Co. has been selected as a sponsor (it is planned that the actual transferee will be its group company G.education Co.). Business property for Nova’s main businesses (Ekimae Ryugaku, Nova Kids, Ochanoma Ryugaku) will be handed over to the sponsoring company in the near future and business operations will resume promptly as a new Nova, managed by this new sponsor.

Regarding you, the employees, (including those of affiliated companies) we inform you that the sponsor has made an arrangement in which the employees, in principle, will be employed by the transferee following an interview.

Also the transferee has offered to consider providing some interim livelihood support to the newly hired employees, according to the circumstances of each person as discussed in the interview.

For the previous unpaid wages, they will be paid within a certain range and under certain conditions through the unpaid wage reimbursement system by The Japan Labor, Health and Welfare Organization. Regarding the procedure to prepare the required document(s), we will inform you of this at a later late; it is expected to take several months for the unpaid wages to be paid to you.

Please refer to the organization’s website （http://www.rofuku.go.jp/）for an explanation of this system.

【Information session for employees】

We inform you that there will be information sessions for employees held on the following date/times.

Following each session it is planned that a government agency information seminar will be held regarding related matters at the same venue.

Please note that those who are not employees are not permitted to enter the venue.

Date and times: November 10, 2007 10:00 and 14:00
Location: 1.Nova Multimedia Center
Kintetsu Shin Namba Bldg, 16F and 17 1-4-38 Minatomachi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka-shi
(We ask that if possible Multimedia Center instructors attend the 10:00 session, and Kansai branch instructors attend the 14:00 session)

2. Nova Tokyo Head Office
Shinjuku NS Building 23F 2-4-1 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
(We ask that if possible instructors from area 2, area 4 and area 8 attend the 10:00 session and Kanto branch instructors from other areas attend the 14:00 session)

3. Some branch locations (to be announced)

* The content of the session starting from 10:00 and that of the session starting from 14:00 will be the same, so please do not attend both seminars as the capacity of the meeting place is limited.
Bill909 on November 9th, 2007 12:20 am

I found this story about what G-Communications intends to do in regards to former Nova staff and teachers. I’m not sure if it is just a pr piece, it seems like there are too few details. Given the fact that most of co-workers either found new jobs or are leaving Japan, it might not be too unrealistic. I heard that Nova was down to about 3000 teachers near the start of October and some complete areas were down to only 3 or 4 Japanese staff. Also to Ron, thanks for that translation. I saw it on Nova’s site, but Babelfish’s translation was harder to understand than kanji…

Here’s the link to that story I mentioned.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071108p2a00m0na011000c.html
Guy on November 9th, 2007 12:40 am

Well, that pays me for not refreshing the page and multitasking, doesn’t it. I look like a real goose now, posting the smae info as Ron right after him.

That has to be PR, doesn’t it? How on earth can he rehire everyone. They keep on using terms like “in principle” and “at their request”. Just looking at the numbers of schools and numbers of staff, it’s unrealistic to say the least.

Did anyone else read the article in which the President of G-Com said in the future he’d like to restore the same number of schools as wehn Nova was at it’s peak, and THEN expand even more?
Bill909 on November 9th, 2007 12:48 am

…and I just found where that announcement was on nova’s site…I feel silly…But thanks for posting it anyway!
Billyclyde on November 9th, 2007 10:19 am

Does anyone have any idea roughly how many ex-Nova instructors are still in country? I have a hard time believing that G-Communication is actually going to be able to fill those posts.
Bill909 on November 9th, 2007 12:08 pm

Well, in the announcement pdf they made back on October 26th, it said “around 7,000 employees (currently the number may be considerably fewer)”. I know ECC and Gaba were scooping up Nova teachers, but I think the jobs with ECC start in April or something like that. I’m probably going to sign up with Nova2 as I actually enjoyed my job, granted I had great coworkers and students. Almost all of the staff I know of are not going to try and get rehired. Only some of the teachers I know want to be rehired, the rest either have new jobs, want unemployment or want to go home. So, all in all, I have to agree with you Billyclyde. I think they will have some difficulty filling their ranks unless they offer some amazing deal.
W. Anthony Malcolm on November 10th, 2007 5:59 pm

I know an information sesssion was held in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture with teachers from Akita, Aomori and Iwate attending on November 10th. Since I did not attend I’m not aware of the official outcome, yet.

It seems that 30 schools will open, and from what I’ve seen via LetsJapan.org Sendai Ekimae is earmarked to be one of the 30 - http://www.letsjapan.org/?q=30-schools-to-be-reopened.html. My feeling is that if G Education is holding an interview session so far north they are trying to gauge whether or not it is worthwhile to open branches in the greater Tohoku area. I gather they are trying to put a system in place for this to happen, as other English schools seem to be making moves on former NOVA students (regardless of the pathetic nature of the deals). I’ve heard from friends that NOVA foreign personnel called them encouraging them to go to the Morioka meeting (I wasn’t called as I officially received my rishoku-hyo and am now on unemployment). Anyone of the thousands who might be getting his/her job back, maybe you will be relocated to the Tohoku area some day. Hope you like skiing and lots of nature.

My big question is how did this new sponsor get around the issue of dealing with past financial liability? They seemed to have walked into a great situation, for them. No need to give full back pay to resigned teachers and staff, or current employees for that matter. No need to take on the debt of student requested refunds. No need to really honor past student investment. And no need to pay back the countless number of vendors/creditors (paper printers, landlords, banks, etc.). No real assurances coming from the new entity, at least financially anyway. How did they get away with this?
Ken Worsley on November 10th, 2007 7:28 pm

Mr Malcom,

I don’t think G.communication is getting away with anything. They negotiated the best package they could get, and they were in the driver’s seat here - if they walked, the entire firm would have had to be liquidated, which is what METI minister Amari has described as the ‘worst case scenario’ that everyone wanted to avoid.

I don’t think the administrators were in any position where they could pressure someone to pay out on Nova’s liabilities. That sort of condition would have gotten anyone to walk - it wouldn’t be worth it.

Of course, making good on some of those liabilities would have created goodwill. Especially amongst students and employees (landlords are not in the driver’s seat here either), the firm had an opportunity to create a large amount of goodwill. I think that shows us how much they think goodwill in this industry is actually worth.

Saw your letter in the Japan Times by the way. It was a good read.
Bill909 on November 10th, 2007 9:51 pm

I just got back from the meeting. It was basically an information session on what happened and whats going to happen from this point on. They took a few questions, but nothing groundbreaking. G-comm agreed to hire every former nova employee that wants a job. The first paycheck will be on Nov 30th I think. They also said that teachers will be paid even if they haven’t been assigned to a school. They said they aren’t officially offering any support such as a signing bonus or things like that, but they would try to help where they could. I’m not broke so I didn’t really bother pressing the issue. Health issurance was mentioned, but they haven’t decided anything final. Housing wasn’t discussed at all. I’m asking for re-employment, but I think the major problem is going to be the Japanese staff. Most that I talked to said they were just going to quit. They mentioned that they are going to shift from points to a monthly fee system, but it wasn’t discussed in any real depth so I don’t have any details. I thought it was real positive. They haven’t given me a reason to think there is some kind of catch, so I am gonna take this offer in good faith, I need a job and I enjoyed my last one. Well, thats about it. This isn’t the most organized post, but hopefully it gives you a basic idea of what went on.
Smithers on November 10th, 2007 11:03 pm

Some more points to add to Bill`s post about what went on at the meeting today in Osaka.

There was no mention of opening more than 200 schools as has been reported elsewhere. They wish to have more teachers working in each open branch than was previously the case. G Communication aims to install the Ginganet system in its existing network of cram schools. Finally G-Comm may open new schools in areas where they cannot continue Nova branches.

I think all the major points at the Osaka meeting have been covered.
Bill909 on November 11th, 2007 12:51 am

Knew I was forgetting something, thanks!
Mking on November 11th, 2007 1:27 am

2,300 people supposedly showed up at these info sessions! They’re planning to pay all those interested in joining the new company with 30 schools open? I don’t really get it, but even if they have 200 open in a few months, they’re going to have 100 people per school? Seems crazy to me. I guess they said the size of the head office would have to be massively scaled down, which makes sense. I just don’t see how in the world this would make money when they’re going to pay a lot of people to not work. Great if you don’t have to work I suppose.
nokimo on November 11th, 2007 10:20 am

I think the new G. Com people are pretty smart. They know they can’t do a thing without instructors. The meeting was designed to try and reign in the exodus of Nova instructors as much as possible. Promising the same pay and conditions was a good move.

I thought it was interesting that they brought in someone to explain the limits of the specialist in Humanities visa! If you’re thinking of becoming a hostess or working in a hotel forget it!

But their attitude toward students is different. They are not offering much of an incentive for the old students to come back and in fact are gearing up for a fight! If this can be read as evidence of a negative attitude toward customers in general it’s not much different than Nova!

By the way W. Anthony, I got a phone call from Hello Work!
Guy on November 12th, 2007 3:12 am

Seems at least one branch has been decided - in Nagoya.

http://www.g-com.jp/1106nova/index.html
Mr. Noah on November 12th, 2007 8:17 am

“enough jobs now“???

Jobs for who? Footloose 24-year-old Aussie kids on working holiday who aren’t interested in teaching as a career?

And jobs doing what? “Teaching” English lessons that leave kids and adults equally unskilled after wasting large amounts of their savings?

Maybe these people can get jobs doing construction in rural Japan. Somewhere there might be a river without a concrete lining… ;-)
Guy on November 12th, 2007 8:26 pm

According to G-Com’s website, 1760 ex-Nova employees in total have said they want to be rehired by G-Com. That’s from the about 2300 who were said to be at the information sessions in Tokyo and Osaka. 1548 foreign employees and 212 Japanese employees have requested re-employment, and 694 employees are as of yet undecided.

Here’s the link:

http://www.g-com.jp/1106nova/index.html
Cervantes on November 13th, 2007 2:46 pm

Hey, Ken, I saw this weekend your article in Metropolis, a good and helpfull reading for anyone. I’m glad we both have been published in the same magazine at the same time, yeah, you can read my writings near the end of page 63. Not so interesting, anyway.
Ken Worsley on November 13th, 2007 3:32 pm

Cervantes, thanks! Now I’m interested in seeing your article, so I’ll have to pick up a copy of the print version.
nokimo on November 13th, 2007 10:30 pm

According to G-Com’s website, 1760 ex-Nova employees in total have said they want to be rehired by G-Com

I was at a meeting last Saturday and filled out all the papers and said I want to be hired. I assume I am one of the 1,760?!

Japan Probe reports that G. comm hired 1,760 Nova employees.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3130 Well, I wasn’t hired. Is there a bad translation here? A manipulation of the numbers? What’s going on?
Ken Worsley on November 13th, 2007 11:43 pm

Nokimo - You were a Nova teacher until the end and then you weren’t offered a position by G.communication? They have been telling the media that they would hire everyone. Inayoshi said it in an interview with the Nikkei last Wednesday. Could you give us some more details?
Cervantes on November 14th, 2007 12:43 am

Nokimo,
Ex NOVA workers who left the company prior to the meetings (my case) were meant not to even assist to them. Less likely to get a contract.

Ken,
Never said it was an article but writings. I’am sure you are smart enought to find it and understand. I bet you an smile.
nokimo on November 14th, 2007 4:58 pm

I am thinking the 1760 refers only to those who were at the meetings in Tokyo and Osaka. I was in one of the meetings in Morioka. I stayed for the full meeting, filled out the papers, met the G. comm staff, and left with other teachers. I haven’t heard of anyone up here in Tohoku being hired yet - but I have been pretty busy the last two days.

I am slightly different in that I got a resignation Form from Hello Work on November 4 and resigned effective Nov. 1. That was recieved by Nova, processed and I got my separation papers. They did make a point in the meeting that they wanted no gap between the resignation and the new employment. For what reason I don’t know. So, am I denyed employment because I filed my resignation a few days before the meeting?
Ken Worsley on November 14th, 2007 5:12 pm

Nokimo, from what I’ve heard and read, that does seem to be the case. I think they wanted to reduce the number of hires by only taking those who had not already resigned or otherwise left the company.
Alatriste on November 15th, 2007 1:53 am

First of all,
congratulation on creating a very interesting place to exchange opinions about Nova.

I am a foreign employee from the Multimedia Center in Osaka (Sp-team) and I am also waiting to be re-hired by the new owner.

From my point of view, the situation is not good but obviously it is much better than before. The thing is that Nova employees are promised to be transferred under a certain sponsorization agreement from the old Nova to the new Nova owned by G-communications.

When will be re-hired? well, we actually do not know..

But I think when Nova declares bankrupt could be the latest date to be re-hired.
Nova will declare bankruptcy as soon as the government decides to end the process, and it should be soon as it is growing a very long bill (unpaid salaries).
W. Anthony Malcolm on November 15th, 2007 1:01 pm

Ken,

Thanks for the read. Anyone can read that piece at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20071108a3.html.

I am in Akita City and can safely say that branches up here show no signs of reopening. Most teachers that went to that meeting (I didn’t go) do not seem to have any indication what the future holds except for that they are supposed to start receiving salary by the end of this month. I don’t know how or from where, but that is what I heard from various instructors who filled out all the paperwork and were given the go ahead that things would be better.

Now my first question is where is this seemingly endless supply of money coming from on G Education’s part?
Next, what is the timeline for this situation?
Next, what about those who have officially resigned, are receiving unemployment, and want to start the past wages recollection process? (I need NOVA to officially close down operations, and be able to issue the proper papers in order to get my 80%. All very technical and laborious, but it seems things are just dragging on)?
Final question - how is G Education going to guard against the bait and switch (teachers decide to go back, start receiving salary, look for another job while on “stand by” then resign/quit once they get back enough cash to do something)?

Last note - this is about the Japanese branch staff out there. I heard whispers that some staff were disgruntled because through this whole ordeal they came to find out that they were really being underpaid for the amount of work they were doing. I heard that after visiting various labor standards bureaus staff were told (with some amazement from the labor standards officials) of these facts. Some entry-level staff might hesitate to go back if they feel they would just be getting the same exploitive salary. Most of the staff I worked with had uni degrees (just like the NOVA teachers were supposed to have), and some were getting paid less than teachers on working holiday VISAS working from 5pm-9pm. The teachers seem to be looking good, but what about the branch sales staff? Are they going to continue to be paid slave wages?
Ken Worsley on November 15th, 2007 1:29 pm

Staff were grossly underpaid from what I’ve seen and read. I never understood why anyone put up with that in an era where there’s a hakken gaisha on every street corner and they really should be able to find out what a fair wage is.

Apparently only 212 Japanese staff members attended the informational meetings. This would mean that Nova has lost about 93% of its Japanese work force since the beginning of the year. That sounds about right.

It’s hard to imagine why anyone Japanese would go back to work for them unless they had some grandfathered high salary.
Guy on November 16th, 2007 2:39 am

There are rumblings on the Let’s Japan Forums that teachers will somehow be kept on the terms (at least some of them) of their Nova contracts, and will be asked to go into branches next week and sign some kind of employment transfer document. This list of schools to be reopened beginning tomorrow has been posted on G-Com’s website, but apparently it is incomplete and more schools will be reopening next week. The lack of information makes this whole situation like a big block of swiss cheese.

http://www.g-com.jp/1106nova/index.html
W. Anthony Malcolm on November 17th, 2007 12:57 am

On the staff front, I can say from experience (personal discussions with Japanese staff members) they were getting ripped off. The only explanation for this kind of thinking is - cultural exploitation (using cultural traits to maintain fields/levels of control - the victim acts as they are culturally bound - the victimizer knowingly exploits this as much as possible). Japanese are obedient and do not want to cause waves, so they take what they are presented with. I actually told some staff a few years back they needed to organize some kind of Union so as to demand a pay increase. This was met with, “We can’t do that because only a few will do it and it will just cause more problems.” Bottomline is they need to be treated better, but they need to demand it. At least the teachers are fighting for what they want, but it seems the Japanese staff are just waiting. For what I’m not sure?!?

Peace
billy shears on November 17th, 2007 2:09 am

Check out the list of schools that will be opening here together with the “new curriculum” ! Up to 5 students per class and a bargain 11,120 yen for a 40-minute “man-to-man” lesson !

http://www.g-com.jp/1106nova/index.html
Ken Worsley on November 17th, 2007 2:59 am

Billy, thanks for the link.

That looks like the price for 4 man to man lessons in a month.

These prices do not look at all like 75% discounts on Nova’s prices (especially given that there were variable prices on the original tickets).
billy shears on November 17th, 2007 12:16 pm

It’s 11,120 yen for 4 lessons at the special 25% rate for existing Nova students. New students will have to pay the full price, although the price is discounted depending on how many tickets are purchased. 20 forty-minute “man-to-man” lessons will cost a mere 145,600 yen.
Garrett on November 17th, 2007 1:27 pm

Over 7,000 yen per forty-minute private. Over 3 times the going market rate with a “freelancer.” Do customers not know this at all, is the skepticism of private or “freelance” teachers really that great, or is the inconvenience of finding a teacher really perceived as being that great?
Thaskin on November 18th, 2007 12:59 am

These guys are way, way behind the schedule they said they would be on. I wonder if they’re just waiting for more instructors to leave the country so they don’t have to sign them to contracts. No one in their right mind could be waiting for these fools. If they’re late because it’s bigger than they expected, then they’re incompetent. If they’re late because they planned it that way and lied, then they deserve to be Nova.
Jeremy on November 18th, 2007 5:51 pm

“20 forty-minute “man-to-man” lessons will cost a mere 145,600 yen”

They won’t make it with those prices. That is about 11,000 yen/hr.

G-CON will Join Nova in the big bankruptcy in the sky… sayonara…
Jeremy on November 18th, 2007 5:56 pm

“Last note - this is about the Japanese branch staff out there. I heard whispers that some staff were disgruntled because through this whole ordeal they came to find out that they were really being underpaid for the amount of work they were doing. I heard that after visiting various labor standards bureaus staff were told (with some amazement from the labor standards officials) of these facts. Some entry-level staff might hesitate to go back if they feel they would just be getting the same exploitive salary. Most of the staff I worked with had uni degrees (just like the NOVA teachers were supposed to have), and some were getting paid less than teachers on working holiday VISAS working from 5pm-9pm. The teachers seem to be looking good, but what about the branch sales staff? Are they going to continue to be paid slave wages? ”

All this was happening back in 1994 when I worked there! It never changed at all!
Isn’t it incredible that “word” never got around among Japanese people about this?
nokimo on November 20th, 2007 9:03 pm

I just heard from a former student that another school has bought a part of Nova. He tells me that the Iwate Nichi Nichi newspaper reported that James School in Sendai has bought two branches in Iwate Prefecture. Unfortunately I cannot independantly verify that as it is not reported on their website. The James School is recruiting new teachers to work from now until next April though.

The question I have is what exactly did James buy? A list of students? Rights to use the Nova name? And do they have any obligation to hire any of the old Nova teachers? How about the other Nova branch in Iwate. Will G comm open it under the Nova name and compete with the James Nova branch nearby?

Just out of idle speculation I wonder how much of this is on the up-and-up? Can G comm do anything it wants now with Nova? I guess so. Everybody just wants to sweep it under the rug and move on. Let the dust settle and forget about it. So much for change and progress in the industry!
Curious on January 19th, 2008 2:10 pm

Well it has been quiet for sometime now on the “What’s happened to Nova and the people affected front”.
I have a question. “What is the scope of business tax write-offs here in Japan?” The reason I ask is there appears to be some funny business going on with the NOVA/E-Com set-up. Are they building a business or looking forward to a tax write off? Contracts are not being renewed yet teachers are being bought from Osaka to Nagoya. Any speculation on the plan?
Rob on February 4th, 2008 3:12 pm

So G-coms up to 136 schools and decided to stop opening branches. At the end of last month they forced the resignations of the entire foreign mangement. They`ve rehired about 1500 teachers, leaving about 500 teachers who requested reemployment without jobs.

The 25% lesson fees did lure in a lot of old students, but they were only given a maximum of year to use all their points reguardless of how big their contracts were.

I work in Kitakyushu which went from 5 branches down to 1. After the last payroll, the president got upset and implemented a 40 student to 1 teacher rule. All other teachers were sent home on 60% of their salary. I can understand that rule in places where they are overstaffeed like Tokyo and Osaka, but here in Kyushu, after April 1st when the ALT positions open up, G-com will be severely understaffed.

So now I`m at home, getting paid for doing nothing, but I`m curious whether I should go back, and whether I`ll see a paycheck in February.

What are your thoughts on the new company Ken?
Ken Worsley on February 4th, 2008 5:44 pm

Rob,

To tell you the truth, I don’t know enough about it. With Nova there were reams of public financial disclosures and lots of people on the inside willing to talk off the record. I don’t have a single contact within G.communication, I haven’t really seen what they’re doing and so it’s hard to go by anything other than what’s out there on the message boards.

It seems they really wanted a piece of the Nova pie and were surprised by how much they got in terms of teachers. They have to get rid of some now. The initial offer of employment for all Nova teachers was never going to happen, I said that then. I don’t know how they got away with it, given the number of schools they said they wanted to open.

They seem to have no idea on how to manage foreign employees. Dumping the old Foreign Personnel Department sort of makes sense, though. From what I’ve heard it wasn’t a crew that was really management savvy. Better off offering them teaching positions to save some face. But without some kind of buffer between management and the teachers, there’s bound to be friction.

I think you’re right that many people will bail once ALT positions open up. Not that those positions are much better, but how could they be worse than this company?

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