Is there an instructor crisis?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I think it depends mostly by location. For gap year kids, a year in the tropics with a zero to hero program before going back to uni sounds like a lot of fun.

In the US where the pay is paltry and the insurance rates are climbing, is it worth it? If I wasn't going to open a dive center, I'd certainly quit teaching all together.

 

[rjack321]

From what I can see online, there seems to be no shortage of young things with little diving experience who want to run off to somewhere warm and be an instructor for a year or two.

They wont come back to be instructors in countries which expect insurance. Unless they have trust funds or some other source of income - insurance rates have gone through the roof.

 

[Vicko]

Wonder where the 10k instructors that were made each year for the past 30 years went.

 

[Germie]

Wonder where the 10k instructors that were made each year for the past 30 years went.

A lot quit within 2 years. Remember, in every hobby, a person lasts on average 3-5 years. Some start technical diving after their recreational career, but also then, most quit then after 1 or 2 courses as technical diving is not that exciting and dangerous as expected.
The dive agencies have developped a way to sell as much as possible in the first years of diving. That is the time people like it that are the 3-5 years. And then, it is not a problem that a lot of instructors quit again after a while. New ones bought a course again. So the circle is round.

Only a very few stay diving and stay teaching. There is nothing wrong with the way to sell as much as possible in a short time. This is business. In other sports hobbies it is the same, like photography.

 

[Cthippo]

So what is a reasonable price to pay for a decent OW class?

Let's say 2-4 students, 4 CW dives and 4 OW dives, plus all academics. What would be a reasonable rate that would make enough to pay the instructor a wage commensurate with their time and level of training?

I think I paid $1000 for mine, but it was as private lessons, which I think is the only way to go. The LDS I went through had a single instructor, who was also the co-owner.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Wonder where the 10k instructors that were made each year for the past 30 years went.

Moved on to ‘real’ jobs that provide a career & a living wage.

 

[berndo]

Eventually, courses will pay a living wage for instructors. This means no more 4-8 day courses for $300. Open water courses are going to start costing $8-900. Bonus, class sizes will get smaller, and hopefully the quality of divers increases as a result.

So, GUE is ahead of the curve?

This would be a death blow to the industry, not gue but the model. You need to cast a wide net to find the people who end up buying a ccr or going with gue.

I think it's comparably to other hobbies. People usually don't start out with a MTB or road bike for 6-8 grand. They start out with bike for maybe 2 grand or less and see if they like it. Once they like and wanna keep going, they'll spend more if can afford it.
If there was no entry level bikes, the more pricey once would also sell much less because the way people usually go would be gone.

 

[berndo]

They wont come back to be instructors in countries which expect insurance. Unless they have trust funds or some other source of income - insurance rates have gone through the roof.

This seems to be an US specific problem. What insurances have gone up for you guys?

 

[BoltSnap]

What is the cost for the standard recreational instructor insurance policy in the US now?

 

[rhwestfall]

It is well beyond the SCUBA industry.

I just watched two stories on;

(1) taking it slower on Mondays to ease into the week
(2) going to a 4 day work week.

even the "work" from home persistence.

I'll add to this the expectation of very high wages for employment at entry level positions.

All of this was based on the current younger generation work force who feel too "overworked"...

We are doomed...