Early recruitment and foreign lifeguards essential to keep Algarve beaches manned this summer
With fewer Portuguese willing to work as lifeguards, beach concessions in the Algarve are focusing on recruiting early and hiring abroad to keep beaches manned this upcoming bathing season.
Industry sources have spoken of the increasing difficulties they face when trying to hire lifeguards in the Algarve, a region where ensuring beaches are safe for the millions of tourists who holiday here every summer is absolutely vital.
“A few years ago, we had young people looking for work during the three-month summer school holidays, but the extension of the bathing season to six months has significantly reduced demand,” Luís Martinho from the Association of Industrial and Similar Concessionaires of the Algarve Coastline (AISCOMA) told Lusa news agency.
Martinho, who has concessions on several beaches in the Algarve, admitted that being a lifeguard is a job that does not provide a “guaranteed future” nor year-long employment, making the recruitment process even more difficult.
Partnerships with countries like Brazil and Argentina have become crucial in maintaining safety standards at Algarve beaches, he added.
The association boss also said there is a “lack of recognition” for the profession which must be tackled in order to attract more national lifeguards.
Starting recruitment campaigns early has been one of the ways that concessionaires have dealt with the dwindling number of lifeguards in the Algarve. António Vaz, concessionaire at Praia dos Salgados in Albufeira, started hiring as soon as January, he told Lusa. The recruitment process is becoming “harder” every year, however, as attracting lifeguards can be difficult due to the lack of available housing in the Algarve.
Jorge Azevedo, from the Albufeira Lifeguard Association (ANSA), agreed that the issue is worsening, with lifeguards from Brazil and Argentina helping mitigate the increasing difficulty of hiring local workers. However, he added that the situation is different in Albufeira “because the municipality has a year-round beach safety plan, which means that some of them work all year round and do not have to go on unemployment”. However, for others, the activity remains seasonal.
Meanwhile, the Portimão Water Rescue and Lifeguard Association (Rocha Rescue) reported no major issues hiring lifeguards as it also strives to hire as soon as possible.
According to Nuno Fernandes, the association representative, early planning is “fundamental”, and the recruitment process “begins immediately after the end of the previous bathing season”, as the concessionaires’ integrated plans must be submitted by the end of March.
He also revealed that Portugal becomes an attractive option for South American lifeguards, since winter in their continent coincides with summer in Portugal.
“So they work here for five or six months and then go back to work for the rest of the year in their home countries,” he concluded.
