44 CultureShock! Egypt
to be an easy one. However, the mass of the population was
(and is) dependent on elements of a planned economy. The
government’s economic strategy is to introduce a gradual
change programme in measured stages. It is not considered
a practical or real option to hastily shift to a liberalised
economy. Therefore, Egypt adopted a policy of economic
reform based on several characteristics that include some
very important real practicalities. The comprehensiveness of
the plan not only considers the need for economic changes,
but also the social and political dimensions associated with
all economic sectors. They are quite aware that sustainable
economic growth must be accompanied by sustained social
stability or they may lose everything.
To many middle- and lower-income Egyptians, the
transition seems especially slow. These groups often
realise only the immediate results of inflation and a slowly
responding job market. Agriculture is the largest employer
in the economy and is almost entirely in private hands.
Egypt’s oversized bureaucracy employs some one-third
of the population’s workforce through government jobs,
public sector enterprises and the armed forces. Privately
owned service and manufacturing enterprises account for
roughly another 20 per cent; the remaining labour force is
unemployed.
Many skilled labourers work abroad (at least 2.5 million)
or are underemployed in Egypt. In talking with middle-class,
university educated young Egyptians, many claim they
are unable to find work in their chosen professions. Often
people will tell you that although the government promises
a job after graduation from a university, a person must
sometimes wait seven or eight years to actually get a job.
As a result, the tourism sector harbours large numbers of
the highly educated who are unable to find work elsewhere.
Consequently, don’t be surprised to find a tour guide who has
graduated law school, but cannot practise law due to the high
costs of establishing a practice. Alternatively, you may find an
accountant or schoolteacher working in tourism as secondary
employment to raise their family income. Most commonly,
among the middle- and lower-classes, you will find people