¡°The dark clouds that have been hanging heavily over us will be cast aside,¡± reads the English translation of Nova Corp. CEO Nozomu Sahashi¡¯s memo faxed to staff Friday. ¡°I said previously ¡®the darkest time is before the dawn,¡¯ and finally the first light of dawn can be seen.¡±
Nova is on the rocks, and the rosy forecast from the man at the helm of the Osaka-based ¡°eikaiwa¡± behemoth may not be enough to reassure members of the 7,000-strong Nova crew, including some 5,000 foreigners, that the company isn¡¯t sinking ¡ª particularly as Japan¡¯s biggest conversation school chain plans to abandon at least 200 of its 900 branches, according to reports.
For the second month in a row, wages were paid late in September. Some teachers ¡ª those in the Osaka and Tokyo areas ¡ª were paid on time on the 14th; others received their wages on the 18th. Titled instructors are anxiously waiting to see if they get paid as promised on Tuesday 25th ¡ª 11 days late. Teachers in Nova-managed accommodation have received eviction warnings over unpaid rent despite the fact the company has been deducting money for this purpose from employees¡¯ salaries.
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