“It’s the most dangerous job in the world.” In this video broadcast on the social network TikTok, the author does not skimp on superlatives to describe the job of lighthouse keeper. In this one-minute sequence made from illustrative images, the owner of this account followed by more than 100,000 people wants us to believe that France is looking for guards to watch over the Jument lighthouse, located offshore from the coasts of Finistère. “No one dares to apply,” assures the voice. The problem ? Everything is absolutely bogus.
FAKE OFF
This video posted a few weeks ago continues to circulate on TikTok. To date, it has been seen more than 177,000 times on the Chinese social network. Its content, however, is a web of lies that seem solely intended to attract an audience. Contacted by 20 Minutes, the Brittany Lighthouses and Beacons service ensures that no recruitment of lighthouse keepers is planned. Neither on the Jument lighthouse, nor elsewhere. Automated since 1991, the Jument lighthouse has not had a keeper for more than thirty years and it does not need one. The “father” of this automation, André Favennec, died a few days ago at the age of 77.
Lit for the first time in 1911 after a perilous construction site that lasted only seven years, the lighthouse was equipped with two generators to provide the electrical energy necessary for the operation of the equipment. “The light and the rotation machine start operating on the order of a photoelectric cell”, specify Lighthouses and Beacons. Since 2015, the LED light has been used. And since 2023, the whole thing has been running using solar panels. A generator was kept in place “in order to compensate for the lack of sunlight”, add Phares et Balises. In the event of a failure, the emergency equipment takes over and the Brest center is immediately notified.
Calls from interested people
Since the publication of the video, several people have called the Interregional Directorate of the North Atlantic Sea, West Channel (Dirnamo). “We had several calls from people who wanted to find out. There are no vacancies,” replied a Dirnamo agent. In Brittany, the last lighthouse keepers on the open sea left Kéréon in 2004. Only a few agents still work in lighthouses on land such as Belle-Ile and Groix.
If people are interested in the video, it is perhaps because the ad can be attractive in terms of remuneration with a promise of “50,000 euros per month”. This too is a pure invention. In Cordouan, in Gironde, the last two open sea lighthouse keepers announced remuneration of 1,600 euros net per month in an article published in 2018.
A gross miscalculation
To complete the absurdity of the facts recounted in this video, let us note the big calculation error it contains. Its author mentions the sum of 50,000 euros per month, “or 1.2 million euros per year”. Unless you have sea bonuses, our calculation ends up at 600,000 euros. Several Internet users have also pointed this out in comments.