Despite a 15-month crash in global travel, tourism and income, more than 95 percent of PADI Retail and Resort members continued on. Even in the most affected regions, with borders closed, PADI Members are making it through on sheer will.

Surviving like this always has a cost. The business downturn created by the effects of the pandemic resulted in significant pay/hour cuts and jobs lost. In many cases, this impacted PADI Members’ hard-sought, hard-earned “dream” jobs at some of the world’s top dive destinations. Thankfully recovery is happening, but the rebound is uneven. We’re seeing that as tourism rebounds it tends to accelerate quickly on both local and inbound tourism levels.

For the first time since the pandemic began, postings for new positions on the PADI Job Board are coming in faster than they are being filled. Just in the month of May, there were more than 150 new jobs added. Moreover, they included opportunities like those that inspire us to be PADI Pros in the first place – jobs at dive resorts and on liveaboards in the USA’s Florida Keys and Hawaii, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, the Maldives and Mexico’s Playa del Carmen-Cancun-Cozumel area. Job opportunities for experienced PADI Professionals will continue to increase as customers flood back, requiring dive operators and resorts to increase recruitment and hiring in order to keep up. To help facilitate filling the demand to get PADI Pros back to work, we are launching a full revamp of the PADI Job Board, which is debuting on the Pros’ Site this month.

As one of the most visited pages on the Pros’ Site, the PADI Job Board has served us well for more than a decade. It’s clearly important to PADI Members, with more than 150,000 views annually. Soon it will apply updated technologies to enhance how efficiently and effectively PADI Pros and PADI Resorts and Dive Centers can connect. If you’ve never visited the PADI Job Board, it provides PADI Members with an unlimited access benefit available to all new and renewed members.  And now all PADI Members will have access to its expanded capabilities as a benefit of membership.

Improvements to check out when the new PADI Job Board launches include:

Manageable – PADI Retail and Resort members can more readily and flexibly post, edit, update and otherwise administer their job listings.
Resume posting – Pros can post full resumes, making it easier for individual members and operators to find the best skillset matches that create winning teams
Searchable – The Job Board is no longer simply a list. Pros and shops can search based on criteria, no longer wading through irrelevant entries that don’t line up with what’s wanted or needed.
Direct connection – The Job Board allows direct connection so that operators can contact prospective hires for initial follow up easily, within the Job Board system.
Multilingual – Automated translation technology allows users to post and view listings in their language preference. By reducing language barriers, it’s expected that more openings and more pro availability listings will post. If this sounds interesting to you, then check the new PADI Job Board .

With 6,600+ dive operations and 128,000+ professional members, the PADI membership organizational infrastructure provides more global employment opportunities than the rest of the dive industry. Job opportunities will unquestionably increase as the pandemic recedes and travel rebounds. Notwithstanding, with uneven recovery, experienced PADI Pros and PADI operators who are hiring might still face difficulty finding each other, which is why revamping the PADI Job Board was prioritized.

The PADI Job Board is a powerful gateway for employment opportunity throughout our global membership infrastructure. Additionally, the PADI Offices are hosting employment webinars to connect employers and interested PADI Pros in certain parts of the world, so check with your Regional team for more information. Thank you for your membership with PADI and for your dedication to, and support of, our mission and vision.

Sincerely,

Drew Richardson

The post Straight Talk from PADI CEO: PADI Pro Employment Demand Rapidly Rising appeared first on PADI Pros.

Business of Diving / Business Support, President’s Desk, Careers, Drew Richardson, Employment, Job Board, PADI Job Board, PADI Pro’sPADI Pros