Pools still battling lifeguard shortage
Hourly pay raises helping close the gap
More than 400 people ventured to the Mt. Lebanon Swim Center on Memorial Day to enjoy a clear, cool day at the pool. The occasion marked the pool’s season opening and its first since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“It was wonderful to see everyone back at the pool enjoying themselves,” David Donnellan, the director of recreation, said.
A vital part of this opening, Mr. Donnellan said, were the pool’s lifeguards who watched over the guests. Many pools in the region — including Mt. Lebanon — have experienced lifeguard shortages that forced the pools to either cut back on hours or close completely.
However, the region’s pools have seen some success through increasing wages and offering free perks in order to attract a primarily high school- and collegeaged hiring pool.
At Mt. Lebanon, Mr. Donnellan said they hire about 70 lifeguards per season. They have 52 on board currently, and 12 hires are in progress. The pool increased its lifeguard wages this year to $10 to $12 per hour, up from the previous $8.14 to $10.24.
Mr. Donnellan also credited the Swim Center’s recruitment efforts, its partnership with the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club and the “very strong swimming community” in Mt. Lebanon for its staffing success.
Some pools raised their wages even higher. The Allegheny County Parks Department increased its wages for lifeguards from $11 an hour to $14 an hour and offered free certification classes. Andrew Grobe, the assistant deputy director of Allegheny County Parks Department, said the county currently has about 100 lifeguards employed with the goal of hiring 150.
Mr. Grobe said the county increased its wages in part because other employers increased their wages for similarly paying jobs. He also said he wants the county pools to remain a leader in the region and attract the best lifeguards.
“We had raised our wages a few years ago and found that most places have caught up to us in what they offer. So a lot of the local community pools paid $10 or $11 an hour,” Mr. Grobe said. “So we wanted to increase our wage to stay ahead of the game.”
One of the largest impacts Mr. Grobe said he noticed from the increased wages is that older, more experienced lifeguards are returning to the county pools. He said once students enter college it’s typically difficult to keep them around due to internships and higher paying jobs. This wage increase has helped attract them back, he said.
“The bottom line is you’re working basically 11 [a.m.] to 8 [p.m.] … Opposed to some other jobs that make you go a little bit later or you have to wake up early, lifeguarding jobs, you get to sleep in, and then you get to go out and do whatever you want at night,” Mr. Grobe said. “It’s good for young adults to have that responsibility and to have that flexibility in their schedule.”
Despite this success, Mr. Grobe said the county is still “a little below average” in its number of lifeguards. He attributes some of this to graduation ceremonies and final exams that were held later because of the pandemic.
But he said a lot of teens are inquiring about jobs and how to get certified. He also said the lower number of lifeguards won’t prevent the county from opening its pools on Saturday. The North Park swimming pool, Boyce Park Wave Pool, Settlers Cabin Park Wave Pool, South Park Wave Pool, Deer Lakes Spray Park and Round Hill Spray Park are scheduled to open on Saturday. All pools will then close on Monday and reopen next Saturday for the remainder of the season.
“I think that it’s just going to be a little bit longer of a process of hiring this year than in previous years,” he said.
Pittsburgh is planning to open eight public pools this month, if it can hire about 80 lifeguards. It will open more if staffing levels rise.
Bethany Bachman, the community events and communications coordinator for the Borough of Dormont, agrees that the hiring process has taken a bit longer than usual. The borough, along with its partner Jeff Ellis Management, initially increased its lifeguard wages to $10 an hour, up from $9.25 an hour in 2019 — the last time the pool was open. After realizing $10 wasn’t enough, they then raised wages to $15 an hour.
The result was a success. Ms. Bachman said raising wages grew the applicant pool significantly. She said the Dormont pool currently has about 12 lifeguards ready to go for their opening next Saturday and are looking for around 18 more.
To accommodate the higher wages, Ms. Bachman said the pool is closing Mondays to decrease hours.
“In a traditional year, the majority of the lifeguards are excited to work full time, but we found this year that less are as enthusiastic to work as many hours,” she said. “So we need to go above our traditional numbers to make sure we can fill in all those gaps.”
“This year is the 100th anniversary of the Dormont Pool, and it was really disheartening when we had to close last year,” Ms. Bachman added. “So we’re excited to be open for our guests again.”