“Cambly your pay is too low!”

OK, now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk money.  Cambly pays $10.20 an hour (£7.45, €8.70). Now I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in the UK the minimum wage is £8.91 and in Europe it averages at about €10. So using my basic math skills, it’s pretty obvious that working for Cambly means getting paid less than the minimum wage in the UK and most of Europe. Of course that is IF you get paid for the whole hour online.  😛

You’ll know from some of my other posts that I don’t visit Cambly’s Tutor Facebook group too much. That’s mainly due to the negativity and constant moaning about ratings and pay…. “I’ve been here for three years and the wage has never increased”… “They’re making so much money out of us the least they can do is pay us more”…”I’m a qualified teacher, I should be paid more” etc.

But here’s the thing, I think the pay isn’t bad.  Ok, before you start throwing things at me, hear me out. Cambly is a platform that requires zero qualifications and zero experience. In essence, they are asking for unskilled and unqualified workers, and that’s what they get.  Yes, I can hear you shouting “But I have a degree, I should earn more”.  Yep I agree. So why are you on Cambly working for ten bucks an hour? You knew the rate of pay when you joined and you were obviously happy to work for that rate. If you feel over qualified,  and that you’re worth more, then maybe Cambly is not for you.  C’mon people stop moaning. You agreed to work for this rate, and cambly doesn’t have you shackled to your desk. If you’re not happy, go somewhere else. Other tutoring sites are available.

Personally, I’m Ok with the rate. I’m working from home so I have no travel expenses. (that’s about $80 a week saved right there).  I’m not paying for an expensive lunch every day and  while I have to look smart for my students I’m not having to buy expensive outfits or trouser suits for the office. So to me, that ten dollars an hour is actually worth a lot more.

I will admit though that there is room for improvement. You’d be hard pushed to find an organisation where there is not a sliding rate of pay. Maybe Cambly needs to look into that? Should Cambly be looking into retaining their quality tutors with the promise of more money?  Should tutors who’ve been on the platform for several years and have experience get paid a little more? Should tutors over a certain rating get a little more?

As one of a band of highly rated supertutors that’s been here for nearly 2 years,  I’m happy with my hourly rate, but hey if Cambly has an idea  to pay me a little bit more, I’ll gladly take it!!!!

Until necxt time. Alice.

“What an idea. A crazy, mad, wonderful idea.” 

NB. This is an opinion piece.  All views here are my own and are not endorsed in any way by Cambly.