Open outdoor pools are no longer a matter of course – there is a lack of staff. The first communities are shortening the opening times or hiring security guards who have also learned to be lifeguards.
“The opening hours in the Beverbad remain restricted” says the website of the municipality of Ostbevern. Supervision at the edge of the pool cannot always be guaranteed. That’s why the pool was recently closed on a few Saturdays. The pool is now open again on weekends, but there is no morning swimming during the week. We are urgently looking for lifeguards.
Corona and energy crisis reason for staff shortage
“And always greets the groundhog,” says Peter Harzheim. He is the President of the Federal Association of German Swimming Champion and was a lifeguard himself for 45 years before he retired – or “skilled worker for swimming pool companies”, as the profession is now correctly called.
The situation repeats itself every year, but this summer you are close to the “worst case”. Peter Harzheim cites Corona as the reason – and the energy crisis. Many baths would have lowered the temperatures and shortened the opening hours. That’s why fewer bathers came. “There were partial closures, there was short-time work, many people migrated to industry. And they sometimes earn more on the assembly line than when they work as a specialist at the edge of the pool,” reports Harzheim. In addition, more staff would be retiring at the moment than going into training.
below average pay
The experienced lifeguard sees the biggest problem in the payment. “In the public service, you’re between 2,600 and 2,700 euros gross at the entry level; over the years that goes up to 3,200 euros,” he calculates. But there are many private operators who pay below average. “Some go home with 2,000 euros gross, you can’t live on that.”
The colleagues who have changed jobs are probably gone forever. Because the new job is often better paid, there are no incentives to come back. “You can’t live off idealism alone,” says Harzheim.
There is also a lack of lifeguards and lifeguards in Wuppertal – they have been trying to find new people in the volunteer-run Vohwinkel outdoor pool since autumn – without success. Now one makes do in Wuppertal with an emergency solution. The baths work with a security company whose employees are also lifeguards. Niklas Lauterbach, security and lifeguard, says: “The advantage is that we are trained in both situations. So we can intervene in the water as lifeguards, but we also know how to de-escalate in conflict situations.” Without him and his colleagues, the pool would have to close.
Problems in many cities and communities
There are also problems in Duisburg. The municipal outdoor pool Homberg had to close. According to the city, the personnel market has been emptied. Here, too, many would have looked for other jobs during the pandemic. The city is therefore now advertising permanent positions and more money.
In Dortmund there are no more offers for early swimmers. Instead of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., pools are only open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. A compromise had to be found. “Children and young people come during the summer holidays, especially in the afternoons,” says Daniel Willer from Volkspark Dortmund. “If we then had normal opening hours, like we used to at 7 a.m., then it would no longer be possible to be there in the afternoon. Because we are bound by the occupational safety and health laws.”
An example from Netphen shows how dramatic the situation is – here, at the beginning of June, a single sick leave in the team ensured that the outdoor pool had to close in the middle of operation. About 400 bathers had to go home.
Lifeguard is a versatile profession
Peter Harzheim makes the situation sad. Because lifeguards are actually a very nice job that is very versatile. “We are doctors, pastors, first aiders, animators, chemists, physicists. We repair pumps and motors, we train ourselves, there are so many options,” says Harzheim.
The training to become a specialist for pool operations lasts three years. It’s about responsibility and human life, so more appreciation among the population would be appropriate, the retired lifeguard wishes. He does his job as President of the Federal Association on a voluntary basis and with passion. But he would like to be able to pass the scepter on to someone younger soon. But here, too, there is a lack of offspring.