Seasonal work
Outdoor swimming pools are urgently looking for staff for the summer
When the outdoor pools open, qualified rescuers must stand at the edge of the pool – otherwise some pools could be closed again. photo
© Friso Gentsch/dpa
Summer, sun – outdoor pool closed. The swimming pools are struggling with a lack of staff for the summer season. They still want to avoid closures at all costs.
Many people have already bathed in Berlin’s Wannsee lido The season for outdoor swimming pools will begin in a few weeks – but the old worries are also the new ones: many cities are still desperately looking for lifeguards and lifeguards to supervise the swimming pool. When the outdoor pools open, there must be enough qualified rescuers at the edge of the pool – otherwise some pools could be temporarily closed again.
In Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, the city company DuisburgSport has launched the “Save the outdoor pool season” campaign. “The shortage of personnel in the industry is blatant. There are simply not enough workers on the market,” says deputy operations manager Marc Rüdesheim.
Just drop by in Düsseldorf
The Düsseldorfer Bädergesellschaft advertises for new workers on a low-threshold basis with so-called job watch days. Interested parties should come by without an appointment but with swimwear. The concept is: preliminary swimming instead of an interview. Other cities such as Essen are entering into partnerships with local swimming clubs.
“We are joining the tough fight for workers in the service industry,” emphasizes Frank Achtzwei from the German Bathing Society in Essen. In most municipalities, the application phase for outdoor pools will end in the coming weeks. Then it will become clear what offers the staff has enough for in the summer season.
According to estimates, there is a shortage of between 2,000 and 3,500 swimming masters in Germany – these are the specialists who, in addition to the pool supervision, take care of the entire pool with its technology and water parameters. This does not include the many lifeguards who stand at the edge of the pool, especially during peak times in summer.
Critical staff shortages since the pandemic
Given the around 6,500 swimming pools in Germany – indoor and outdoor pools – the number of missing swimming masters is “a real number,” said Martin Holzhause, spokesman for the German Life Saving Society (DLRG), to the German Press Agency.
In the past two years in particular, the effects of the staff shortage have been reflected in the delayed start of the outdoor pool season, shortened opening times, and temporary or, in some cases, complete closures. “That will definitely happen again this year,” said Holzhause. However, the DLRG spokesman was convinced that additional forces could be found to at least provide support in the coming weeks and months. “However, the need for skilled workers in the pools remains and cannot be solved overnight.”
The Federal Association of German Swimming Champions confirms that the industry has set many of the right course in recent years. The pay and general conditions have noticeably improved, says President Peter Harzheim.
The problem is general: “People want to go out on the weekend, relax, enjoy wellness – but hardly anyone is willing to work on the weekend anymore and do something to ensure that such offers exist,” says the head of the association. “We can’t solve the problem in our industry alone – we would need a social outcry,” he says.