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During the pandemic they had to help out in hospitals, now they are setting up accommodation for refugees: the civil protection officers. In many places, however, there is a lack of staff. An initiative launched on Tuesday could remedy the situation.
Refugees will soon find accommodation where old people used to live. For this purpose, a civil protection officer and a person doing community service screw together an Ikea bed in a vacant old people’s home in St. Gallen. Actually, the two services have strictly separate tasks. But in the canton of St. Gallen they have been cooperating for several years. Jörg Köhler, head of the cantonal office for military and civil protection, explains: “We can call up civil protection officers quickly and those doing civil service can help to cope with the heavy workload in the long term.” That way you always have enough people.
In many other cantons, civil defense is struggling with staff shortages. According to the federal government, 72,000 civil protection officers would be needed throughout Switzerland. 3,000 are missing today, by 2030 it could be 20,000.
The problem could be solved by changing the compulsory service system – which the Defense Department is currently examining. The first option is a combination of civil service and civil protection. However, this would increase the organizational effort for the cantons, in contrast to the pure cooperation between the two services.
The Federal Council has rejected citizen service – now comes the initiative
The second reform variant envisages that women will also be required to hold positions. Not all women and men would have to serve, but only those who are best suited. The Federal Council recently rejected the option of a citizens’ service, in which each and every individual has to lend a hand.
Now a non-partisan alliance wants to introduce such a “service citizen” in a different way. It launched an initiative on Tuesday. Sarah Bünter, who sits in the party presidium in the middle, explains: “Everyone should do a service for the general public or the environment. The aim is for us to have answers ready for all future crises.”
The number of service providers would increase significantly as a result. Federal Councilor Viola Amherd criticizes the fact that competition with the private sector is increasing. Boas Lieberherr, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, also sees this as a possible problem: “Most of the new assignments would probably be in civil service, which could increase competition for low-skilled personnel – for example in the health and social sectors.”
Bünter counters: “In nursing and in many other areas, we are running into a shortage of skilled workers.” The Service Citoyen would bring in new workers who could help out in case of bottlenecks.
More women – not just because of the lack of staff
The personnel problems of the civil defense would be solved within a short time with a service citizen. And at the same time, the staff would become more diverse.
Currently, the lack of women is particularly important, as the St. Gallen office manager Köhler explains: “Most refugees from Ukraine are women with children, some of whom prefer to be supported by other women. If we had more women, we could therefore take on additional tasks.”