CAIRO — The Division of Recruitment Companies at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce held March 3 a meeting, which Al-Monitor attended, to discuss the findings of the committee formed in December 2018 to identify ways out of the crisis facing the recruitment of Egyptians for jobs abroad. The committee was also tasked with proposing alternatives to the Gulf states, which have opted for policies to nationalize jobs available in their markets.

Ahmad al-Rai, recruitment director at the Cairo-based El-Owaida agency, gets dozens of phone calls daily from individuals looking for a job in the Gulf states. He takes the job seekers' contact details and promises to get in touch once work visas are granted again.

The number of people for whom the agency managed to secure a job in the Gulf, particularly in Saudi Arabia, has dwindled by more than 70% since 2017. Rai told Al-Monitor that only 600 workers were employed in the Gulf in 2018 compared to more than 2,150 in 2014.

El-Owaida, which has been operating since 1998 and has three other offices in different Egyptian governorates, mainly caters to the Saudi market’s demand for construction engineers and workers.