The dive industry has not collapsed nor will it - however - what I will say is this - forgive me if I repeat myself.
Here in Sharm El Sheikh, the freelance market has been severely hit. As far away as last year it was relatively easy to turn up, do a few days work, get a CDWS card and work for a bunch of different centres. I know - because last year, that is exactly what I did.
Now I am well established at my dive centre and see the opposite side of the coin and how it has affected the industry here. Since I know staff at the other big centres I know I can speak for those to some extent as well. I have contact with staff in Dahab and Marsa Alam so I know that the problem has spread but I don't know to what extent.
Instructors are not coming to Sharm looking for work because they already know about the issue with work permits. In prior years you could turn up and almost be guaranteed work, especially if you spoke more than one language fluently.
With the work permit: You need a dive centre to sponsor you to get a work permit. You are legally not allowed to work at a dive centre without a work permit. You can't get a job without a permit, you can't get a permit without a job - a classic Catch-22 situation. Some leeway is given to "trainee" staff but if you want the job and the work permit, you need to impress. Dive centres are getting job applications from people who ask if they will be given a work permit. Nobody is going to invest that time and money in somebody who might not fit in with the team, either persosally or professionally, without some form of test period. As always in the dive industry, face to face contact is hugely important, especially to big names with international reputations to protect.
We have been short staffed all summer for exactly this reason - it has been difficult to recruit quality staff and at least in our case, we will not hire people who are just going through the motions or ticking boxes. For sure other centres have resorted to that - because I see people who didn't make it at one centre working for another.
The people who traditionally left Egypt over the winter to work in other locations (it's COLD here in winter) are, this year, not leaving for a job in (eg) Thailand because they have a work permit here and are not willing to give that up and go through the hassle of re-applying, or risk losing their job because the dive centre has invested time and effort in another work permit for another instructor.
The work permit regulations were only enforced this year. In previous years, it was accepted that many dive staff were working here "illegally" but were highly valued and so therefore a tacit "gentleman's agreement" existed between authorities and employees of foreign freelance staff, probably sugared with a nice packet of non-sequential baksheesh, and everything was okay.
This year the work permit has been enforced. Staff are turned away at jetties if they don't have a licence. A few months ago, Na'ama Bay jetty police confiscated all CDWS cards of staff working on the boats that day - including egyptian nationals. They then demanded to see all equivalent work permits - which makes the inclusion of domestic staff somewhat ridiculous since they can work here anyway.
This is only the first year. Already word has got out. Next year I expect there will be fewer wandering instructors coming to sharm. We have recruited new instructors, for sure, but it has not been easy. Furthermore, dive centres that have been understaffed in the summer will find they are overstaffed for the winter, because people are hanging on to their work permits. This will make it harder for the casual applicant to find work. They will be competing against staff who have been here for *years* in some cases.
However it operates, it affects the lives of myself and my colleagues quite substantially. We have been working longer periods to compensate for the shortfall in staff, and yes, this is great for the bank manager, but not for your health.
It will not cripple the dive industry, but it may have a serious affect on it's quality. Financially, the dive industy is still very relevant to sharm, but in the ten years I have been coming here it has turned from 90% diving and 10% hot sunny vacations to 90% all inclusive free-beer package holidays and 10% diving. The clientele has changed from returning experienced divers to lots of intros and DSDs - partly down to agency marketing, mostly because it provides comission to the hotels and tour guides.
I feel this should form another thread and I feel I should be a little careful what I say but it's the truth. One positive result is that the CDWS have changed the regulations so that work permits are avaiable to foreign staff on a basis of 3 foreign work permits for every 10 egyptian staff instead of the previous 1:10.
What happens next we shall have to wait and see. I will keep people informed as and when I can. I'd also like to discuss this more privately with other instructors in the Red Sea. I love it here, and do not want to find myself out of work because of randomly implemented rules and regulations. I do not want to be an illegal alien - I believe the requirement for the work permit is all fair and square and am happy to comply with the authorities on this one.
But please, for goodness' sake, give us a break.
Cheers
C.
