4000 lifeguards are missing! Beaches are now being closed in Italy
Midsummer is imminent, and for the first time in two years, a really successful holiday season could be imminent in Italy thanks to the sharp drop in the number of corona.
And now this! The bathing establishments in the country are missing thousands of lifeguards – the situation is so precarious that even beaches have to be closed.
Anyone who has ever taken a beach holiday in Italy knows the picture: thousands of loungers and parasols are lined up on the kilometers-long Mediterranean beaches, divided into different color sections, each of which is operated by a different owner. There are almost 30,000 such so-called “stabilimenti balneari” in Italy. And the law stipulates that at least one lifeguard must be present for every 100 meters of beach during the day. But it looks like that will hardly be possible in the coming high season, as the Italian news portal TG24.com writes, among others. Numerous beaches in Italy could now be closed.
Up to 4000 lifeguards are missing – now beaches in Italy have to be closed
Accordingly, Italy’s association of bathing establishments Confcommercio complains that there is a lack of lifeguards on almost all stretches of coast in the country. There is talk of 3,000 to 4,000 vacancies, which is 30 to 40 percent of the total number of lifeguards required.
The problem: Lifeguard courses were no longer offered during the Corona lockdown. And many who had already worked as lifeguards before Corona have now looked for other jobs. In addition, many young people do not want to work, especially on the weekends, even though they are needed most then. Many bathing establishments therefore now fear that they will not be able to open in the high season.
Free lightning courses for lifeguards
According to TG24.com, free lifeguard training courses are now being organized at the last minute in the Lazio region, where the capital Rome is also located. “In family businesses, attempts are made to compensate for the shortage by having relatives work as lifeguards,” the news portal quotes the operator of a bathing establishment in Campania as saying. In the region in the southwest of Italy alone there are 1,200 such stabilimenti balneari, and 2,500 lifeguards are still needed.
How much does a Lifeguard make in Italy?
According to the Italian job portal Circuito Lavoro, anyone who wants to work as a coastal lifeguard in Italy needs a special lifeguard license. This must also qualify for use at sea and on inland waters. Generally, lifeguards in Italy are paid per hour. According to the job portal, the average hourly wage is between 6 and 7 euros. This corresponds to a monthly salary between 1300 and 1800 euros. However, the amount of the salary also depends on the location, the size of the bathing establishment and the type of beach on which the assignment takes place. For comparison: According to a report by “Stern”, lifeguards in Germany receive a monthly starting salary of around 2,200 euros.
