Merry Christmas from GComm...

Who thought that no-one in Japan had any Christmas spirit??? Here is a very late update (this actually happened about a week ago, but Christmas festivities...) All the people who took the B Option got fired... That's it... There are no jobs for you with GComm unless you want to work in restaurants...

The email was sent to me by about 3 sources... One of which was an anonymous comment on this blog... I will include it here...

Thank you for requesting re-employment with G.education. Since taking over operations at Nova we have put all our efforts into proceeding with the reopening of branches. As a result, we expect to have approximately 130 branches offering Nova lessons during December 2007.
At the same time, the Trustees in Bankruptcy are making progress with dissolving Nova Corporation. At present they have started proceeding sequentially with terminating leases of properties which will not be taken over by G.education and the problem of unpaid wages. With the cooperation of property owners, we have managed to rapidly reopen many branches but now intend to more closely align branch reopenings with the current business situation. The process of opening the Ekimae Ryugaku branches and restarting lessons requires a lot of time, personnel and expense. To enable us to offer lessons even more quickly to students who still have unused lesson points, we will shift the focus of development from the branches to expanding Ochanoma Ryugaku lessons with a view to even opening new Multimedia Center facilities overseas.

In the current business situation, it is only possible for G.education to employ a limited number of instructors in January and while we appreciate your request for re-employment from January 10, 2008, it is with great regret that we inform you that we are not able to offer you a position at G.education at this time.

This has been a very difficult decision for G.education to have to make and we would like to offer assistance to all applicants, including information about other employment options or financial assistance with purchasing an air ticket to your home country. Additionally, the G.communication group has opportunities available in the restaurant industry and would welcome inquiries if you have an interest in this field. We will also continue to assist the Trustees in Bankruptcy with the necessary documentation for making applications for reimbursement of unpaid Nova Corporation wages.

While the current business situation makes this decision unavoidable, we hope to be able to contact you and ask you for your assistance if possible once business operations allow.

In our endeavor to continue Nova fs business, we are constantly forced to make difficult decisions and, while our aim is to be able to have as many students as possible return to the branches and as many instructors as possible continue employment, it is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you of this decision and ask for your understanding.

We wish you all the best with your future endeavors.

Takashi Ono
Chief Executive Officer
G.education Co. Ltd.
5-12-3 Hondori
Kurokawa
Kita-ku
Nagoya-shi

There were a few people who made these jokes to me when GComm took over the business, as they owned a whole bunch of restaurants and izakayas... But of course I couldn't take any of that seriously until now...

Fortunately, I only personally know 4 people who took the B Option but none of them were actually seeking re-employment, they had either found other jobs in Japan or were using the 150,000 yen to help buy a plane ticket home... Some people I have heard of, though, used the period until January 10 to take a Christmas holiday home and are sitting in their home countries now trying to decide what to do... Go back to Japan and find another job... Just stay here and cut my losses... Go back to tie up any loose ends... All I can do is express my condolences to those having to much such tough decisions over this Festive Season...