There aren’t enough people applying to be firefighters in Maryland, which means that fire departments there might not have enough workers.
It was reported in the Baltimore Banner that there are now less than 1,000 firemen in 45 stations in Maryland. A year ago, between 3,000 and 5,000 new applicants could come from the same area.
Today, the Maryland Association of Counties’ Assistant Director, Dominic Butchko, said, “We’re fine. But in five, ten, or fifteen years, if recruitments are still not coming in at the rate we need and retirements are still happening at the same rate, we’ll be in trouble.”
Something like this could be going on because there are other people who want to hire firemen and offer better pay. Instead of working as firefighters, a lot of young people are looking for better-paying jobs they can do from home.
Kirk Spencer, a firefighter recruiter, said, “We have to compete with IT jobs, travel jobs, and work-from-home jobs. COVID showed that all day.” This means you need to show up and get your hands dirty. It’s always hard, cold, and hot.
Still, a lot of people think this is because the younger generations that would usually do these jobs are less driven to be firefighters or make a difference. A person in charge of hiring at the fire department said, “That’s not the same applicant.” The phones aren’t being picked up. People aren’t dressing right for the written test. Simple things.”
Other experts say that now is the time to start thinking of creative ways to get more people to become firemen and join this workforce.
This has been hard for the firefighters who are still working because of a lack of staff. Many of them are already taking on too much, and things will get worse as the number of firemen drops even more.
