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You see, that´s the difference!
European instructors and DMs would not survive in this business with that attitude. A competent DM or instructor must realize that is job is something special. Having responsibility for the life of a customer, making the most valued time of the year for them special, being interested in constantly expanding and updating your own knowledge (diving theory is a developing "science"), being able to teach, using the proper educational methods (actually there are CMAS ITCs which you can only pass if you attend pedagogical seminars and read mantadory educational literature), having a broad knowledge of diving in a variety of conditions (what would an egyptian DM or instructor answer, if ask by a beginner about diving in cold or fresh water or even under ice, in caves or generally in other destinations - beginners ask all kind of questions). If a european instructor lacks in those areas, a proper center would fire him without hesitation or nor employ him in the first place - try doing that to an egyptian, he would cry "unfair, rasicm" etc.).
The value of the job is not the complexity of the job. When I say it's not rocket science, I mean it's not as complex. This has nothing to do with neither its absolute value nor one's recognition of this value.
No, being a diving professional is definitely no a blue collar job like cleaning a hotel room. But of course that only applies, if you have to correct attitude towards what you are doing and are not doing it only for monetary reasons. For an egyptian, being a DM is a very high paying job. That´s an amount he can make per month he can not make in any other job that easily without higher education. For any european, working as a DM or even instructor is a measly paid hobby which most of them have taken up out of enthusiasm. Most of them could make much more money in a lot of fields, working in their home countries. The picture that some try to paint, that all europeans working in the diving industry in Egypt are unemployed, low class people who couldn´t find a proper job in Europe is absolutely wrong and an insult!
As per the certification agency standards, it's definitely a blue collar job. You can become a DM with no particular formal education, in a month or so. Even if it doesn't make you a good DM, it still makes you a dive "professional", at least according to the standards of the guys who put the standards! BTW, you even mentioned "wages" in one of your previous posts. Blue collars get wages, white collars get salaries.
I say it again: as long as there are not enough egyptians with the same level of competence as we can find in the tousands of european DMs or instructors (and there are many, many europeans applying for a job that are rejected for the above stated reasons), substituting foreigners with egyptians will decrease the level of quality of the industry here. That´s not racism or arrogance - that´s unfortunately a fact. I also say again, to make that very clear, if there are enough egyptians on the required level of professionalism, I am all for giving them the jobs, because it would actually make more sense businesswise. Most owners are no fools. They make decisions not based on some obscure reasons, but rather based on a logical approach. Hiring egyptians would be easier, less hassle in terms of bureaucracy and even less expensive, because you would not have to pay them tickets etc. on top of a salary. Mind you, that has nothing to do with equal pay for equal work, it´s just additional costs any european generates. And still there is the question of language skills...
I agree; most of the owners are no fools, but are no aces either. The smart manager (I know some of those) invests in the locals, and they know it'll definitely pay off. They train the locals up to the required standard and create loyal local staff. Now that's an invaluable asset. On the other hand, to make it crystal clear, a small operation that can't even hire 10 Egyptians, what benefit should the country expect from that? No one is asking small operations to close their doors, but just to adhere to the laws.
BTW, this law has been there since ever. It's not new. What happened is that it was not put into action before. Now as a foreign investor, one should know exactly what the labor laws and regulations (among others) of the country one's going to invest in say. Failing to do so is the investor's OWN responsibility. Investors should have known that this is a threat (in business terms). They should have taken measures to minimize the impact of this threat should it have developed into crisis, which is what the smart managers mentioned above did. On the other hand, people who say we came here because we're enthusiasts, love diving, etc. and by the way we get better pay in our home land, might be suitable for running the business daily issues. But on the strategic management level, they are just not up to the expected.
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