Essen.
The NRW cities are desperately looking for lifeguards for the coming outdoor pool season. If there are not enough staff, outdoor pools could remain closed.
Although Reinhard Nowak has been retired for a few years, the 70-year-old is already looking forward to helping out as a lifeguard at the outdoor pool again in the summer. “The job is fun and you spend a lot of time in the fresh air,” says the board of directors of the NRW state association of German swimming champions. Nevertheless, there are far too few staff for the coming outdoor pool season.
The search for the pools in the Ruhr area has been in full swing for weeks. If the companies do not find enough lifeguards by the summer, there is a risk that individual outdoor pools will be closed. Nationwide, Nowak estimates that there is currently a lack of 500 to 750 lifeguards and around three times that number of lifeguards. According to the German Society for Bathing, there are even up to 3,000 vacancies nationwide.
Bad pay, inflexible working hours
The shortage of staff in outdoor pools is well known: “Every year the municipalities are desperately looking for new people, but the working conditions still don’t change,” criticizes Nowak. In particular, poor pay – lifeguards are often only paid the minimum wage – but also inflexible working hours would deter new applicants. “Who would want to work when the weather is bomb, while everyone else is free?”
Last summer, the lack of lifeguards and lifeguards meant that dozens of outdoor pools in the Ruhr area were only able to open late or with restricted visiting hours. It could be the same this year. Peter Harzheim, Chairman of the Federal Association of German Swimming Champions, is concerned about the coming summer: “If things are going really badly, individual pools may not be open at all on some days”.
Corona pandemic exacerbated staff shortages in the outdoor pool
The outdoor pool operators in the cities of the Ruhr area are already preparing for limited bathing operations in summer. According to the city, four lifeguards and 19 lifeguards are still needed in Duisburg to ensure a safe outdoor pool season. City spokesman Peter Hilbrands explains: “If the search for personnel is not successful, the indoor and outdoor pools could open alternately during the summer season in order to use existing specialist staff according to the weather conditions”.
In Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, there has also been a search for lifeguards for months, ten positions in Bochum and eight in Gelsenkirchen are still vacant in mid-March. According to Jascha Dröge from Wasserwelten Bochum, the difficult personnel situation has been exacerbated by the corona pandemic: “During the pandemic, many students who regularly worked as lifeguards in the summer season looked for new opportunities to earn a living. Unfortunately, this effect can still be felt today”.
Essen offers free swimming lessons to attract new applicants
In Essen, around half of the 50 lifeguard positions for the coming outdoor pool season were filled by March. The sports and pool companies rely on targeted campaigns to recruit new specialists. A spokesman explained: “We advertise in classic and social media, on the university job exchanges, as well as on advertising posters in the pools and sports facilities, at the Ruhrbahn and at the Essen Sports Association”. In addition, the city offers free courses to achieve the silver badge required for the job as a lifeguard.
Despite the efforts in the individual cities, Peter Harzheim feels let down by politics. Not enough has been trained in recent years to attract new people to the lifeguard profession. He is also annoyed that the lifeguard profession is not sufficiently appreciated by the public. “There’s a lot more to it than just standing around at the edge of the pool. We are technicians, doctors and pastors in one”.
>> Info: This is how swimming champions and lifeguards differ
- For the lifeguard a three-year training course to become a “skilled worker for pool operations” is necessary, in which, in addition to the technical operation of the pools, scientific topics and first aid are also taught.
- The trainees must be at least 16 years old and have a school-leaving certificate (at least Hauptschule).
- Lifeguard must be at least 18 years old and physically fit.
- In addition, the lifeguard badge is at least silver required – for this you have to swim 300 meters in clothes, 200 meters backstroke without arm activity or 25 meters distance diving.
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