Fort Worth pools see cutbacks as national lifeguard shortage hits close to home
The national lifeguard shortage has come to North Texas.
Fort Worth and Arlington have less than half the necessary number of lifeguards needed to keep their pools open full time.
Even the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth and Walsh housing development in far west Fort Worth are cutting back hours to deal with shortages.
Public and private pool operators have tried a combination of incentives and recruiting techniques to boost staffing levels for the busy summer season.
But a shortage of labor combined with the inability to train lifeguards during the COVID-19 pandemic is putting a strain on public pools as people search for ways to beat the heat.
Roughly one-third of the nation’s 309,000 public pools are being affected by the lifeguard shortage, said Bernard Fisher, director of health and safety for the American Lifeguard Association.
The shortage grow to affect half the nation’s pools by August as lifeguards leave for school and sports commitments, he said.
Fort Worth has hired only 19 of the required 40 lifeguards to fully staff its two pools.
Arlington has hired only 77 of 160 lifeguards and cashiers needed to staff the city’s eight public pools.
The YMCA has 140 lifeguards, and could make do with 160, but needs 200 to be fully staffed said, Jacquelyn Kotar, the YMCA’s head of compliance, training and recruitment.
Some private lifeguard operators are also facing shortages.
Bearfoot lifeguards, a private lifeguard company that staffs around 50 pools in Dallas-Fort Worth, was only able to hire and train about a third of its workforce before Memorial Day, said owner Chad Avery.
The company lost about 25% of its business this summer due to the shortage, he said.
It even cut back hours for the pool at the Walsh housing development in far west Fort Worth. Swimming there will be unguarded from 9 a.m. to noon, but a guard will be on site from noon to 9 p.m., a Walsh spokesperson said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered recruiting, Avery said. Most high schools cut off access to allow companies to recruit during the pandemic, and not all have reopened.
Roughly 300,000 lifeguards are trained across the United States every year, Fisher said.
An additional 40,000 to 50,000 lifeguards used to come to the United States every year through a summer worker travel program organized by the U.S. State Department, he said.
Travel bans and the inability to train new lifeguards during the COVID-19 pandemic both contributed to the shortage we’re currently experiencing, Fisher argued.
Fort Worth tried to get ahead of the shortage, said city council member Elizabeth Beck.
The city went to hiring fairs, swim meets, put out advertisements and raised its wages, she said.
Fort Worth is paying $15 an hour for lifeguards up from $12 an hour last Summer. It’s also offering up to $200 in incentive pay.
The YMCA also increased its wages from $9 an hour in 2021 to $12 in 2022.
Fort Worth is reducing the number of private bookings to maximize the number of hours the pools can be open, Beck said.
Arlington, Fort Worth and the YMCA are trying to encourage residents to become lifeguards by offering to cover the cost of certification, which Kotar said can be as much as $300.
That certification can be a barrier for some applicants. Roughly 60% of the YMCA’s lifeguard applicants can’t pass the required swimming test, Kotar said.
About 10 years ago the YMCA developed a lifeguard academy to train potential applicants for free with the goal of employing them upon completion.
“But it does take time if they don’t know how to swim when they get to us,” Kotar said.
The YMCA had 27 applicants go through its lifeguard training class at the beginning of June. Kotar said she’s confident her organization will be able to meet its minimum of 160 lifeguards by the end of the month.
Fort Worth and Arlington are still hiring lifeguards throughout the summer to boost their staffing.
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