In 1988 the Cook County Forest Preserve's three public outdoor swimming pools closed early in the season for the second year because they did not have enough lifeguards. It's tough to get lifeguards. It's tougher to keep them. Is this a universal problem? Is the trouble with lifeguards an indication of some change in our population or society? Is it a reflection of a change in the profession?

Aquatic professionals who talk about their troubles with lifeguard recruiting point to some common problems. When I talked with one aquatic supervisor for a large facility in a Chicago suburb, she pointed out some of the most frequently cited reasons why lifeguards are more difficult to recruit these days. "Kids just don't want to work," she said. "Their parents give them too much money so they don't need jobs." Other common rationales are: The population is getting older. There are fewer teenagers. There are more pools. There is more competition for fewer lifeguards. There are fewer people taking training courses. Lifeguarding doesn't pay well enough. Young people in the job market can make as much money flipping burgers without the hassle of all that training.

I decided to look into these problems to see if there is any validity to them. The first issue, fewer teenagers in general, may be a legitimate concern. According to the 1990 Statistical Abstract of the United States, the number of 15 to 19 year olds dropped 5 percent between 1970 and 1988. The 20 to 24 age group peaked in 1980 and dropped 9 percent by 1988. The 18 to 24 age group is expected to decline by an additional 3.5 percent by the year 2000.

Illinois seems to follow the same trend. The State's population between the ages of 18 and 24, those prime lifeguarding years, was listed at 1.24 million in 1988. By the year 2000, this segment of the population is expected to be 1.08 million, a decline of 13 percent.

There is also some truth in the assertion that there is more competition for lifeguards who are in the job market. The most obvious reason for this is that there are more pools now that ever before. Between 1989 and 1991, over 100 new swimming pools were issued licenses by the State of Illinois. That number will grow at an increased rate in the near future. Colleen Smith of the Illinois Department of Health, Environmental Health Division, says that the State's engineers are now reviewing more than 100 new pool projects a year.

While this seems to be bad news for public pool operators, there is some good news also. The assessment by some people in aquatics that there are fewer people taking lifeguarding courses these days could not be further from the truth. The largest trainer of lifeguards in Illinois is the Mid-America Chapter of the American Red Cross. It encompasses Chicago and its surrounding counties. Pat Stejskal, the chapter's aquatic coordinator, reports that the number of certifications that are earned each year has remained steady at around 6,000 since 1986. This is particularly significant since the Red Cross has undertaken a major overhaul of its water safety programs in that time, phasing out the old Advanced Lifesaving program and placing increased emphasis on new lifeguard training classes. The biggest change in the number of training certifications occurred during the period between 1989 and 1990 when most water

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safety instructors underwent mandatory re-training. During this period, many instructors chose to become certified in new lifeguarding programs, even though they may not have been working as lifeguards.

The other major trainer of lifeguards, the YMCA, has been cranking out more lifeguards than ever before. While the YMCA does not maintain regional breakdowns of certifications, they report a nationwide increase in the number of lifeguards certified. According to the YMCA's national aquatic director Millard Freeman, YMCA lifeguard certifications climbed from 6,422 in 1985 to 11,034 in 1990.

The Illinois area also has a relative newcomer to lifeguard training in the Texas-based consulting and risk management firm of Ellis and Associates. In 1986, only one facility in Illinois used Ellis' National Pool and Waterpark Lifeguard Training Program. In 1990, there were more than a dozen facilities using the program with 350 lifeguard licenses issued.

The apparent increase in the number of lifeguards seems to indicate that the labor pool is at least staying static, if not increasing somewhat. But there is confusion over which classes to take due to the changing Red Cross and YMCA programs and the addition of the Ellis program. This confusion may be hurting some communities. One aquatic supervisor put it well, "Kids don't know where to go to become lifeguards these days."

Then there is the age-old issue of money. Lifeguarding was traditionally a highly coveted job. The prevailing attitude seemed to be that lifeguarding was a job where you didn't have to work very hard. You got to spend all your time at the pool. You got a tan. And, you got paid for it too. Since it was seen as such a great job, there may have been a tendency to pay less than other jobs. Now the prevailing attitude seems to be that pool operators are in competition with McDonald's and other fast food restaurants and a host of other employers for young workers.

Neither of these attitudes reflects reality. While it may be true that lifeguarding has always been viewed as a great, cushy job, anyone who has actually done it will tell you that it is not all that it is cracked up to be. There is also a much greater emphasis on professionalism these days.

The idea that pool operators are in competition with fast food chains doesn't wash. Although McDonald's is without a doubt the largest employer of teenagers in the country, they have no national salary scale. Barry Mehrman, McDonald's Corporation's national employment manager, says that salaries are determined by the local store manager. "We try to make our pay competitive based on the market," he said. "Now that minimum wage has gone up, our wages will go up too. But it's all up to the local managers."

Can a teenager really make as much money flipping burgers at McDonald's as watching a swimming pool? To find out, we called 20 different McDonald's restaurants in the Chicago area. When asked what salary they would pay a 16 year old to start, they all said minimum wage. A few said they might pay more depending on experience, but not much more. It should not be difficult for any public pool to match that kind of salary.

Then why do some aquatic supervisors have so much trouble recruiting lifeguards? To find an answer they may have to look no farther than a mirror. According to Jim Ensign, formerly with Naperville Park District and now the supervisor of the Fox Valley Park District's new community water park, the secret to getting and keeping lifeguards is to make them feel like they are part of a family.

"They need to feel that their supervisor is someone who will listen to them," said Ensign. He says he is not worried about getting enough lifeguards for his new operation opening this summer since he will probably have to turn away as many as he hires. The kind of facility itself may be the biggest draw for potential staff. Ensign admits that he might have a harder time getting lifeguards if it weren't for the fact that he has something new to offer them, "If you have a water park, it's a draw because it's a fun place," said Ensign.

Another characteristic of aquatic supervisors who have no trouble recruiting lifeguards is that they run many more public lifeguard classes. Donelda Danz, supervisor of Palatine Park District's five pools, says that she makes sure there are plenty of opportunities to take lifeguard classes. Ensign agrees. He takes the responsibility of teaching these classes himself. "You get a chance to bring home your own points of view," adds Ensign. "You are more in control of what they are getting."

Pool operations that have no trouble getting lifeguards also seem to take pains to keep staff coming back each year. Palatine does not have too much turnover, says Danz, which is unexpected since they don't pay as well as some other operations. "Even some of the staff who leave us to go to work at private pools have come back because they miss the atmosphere here," Danz said. Contributing to the atmosphere is an effort to promote staff unity by holding staff social events and light competitions such as the lifeguard Olympics offered by the IPRA Facility Management Section.

Working hard to keep existing staff is a very healthy attitude for an aquatic supervisor. When you consider the amount of time and effort that goes into recruiting and training a lifeguard, it is always much more cost effective to keep the ones you have than to constantly be on the search for new ones. I believe that salary makes more difference in retention than it does in recruiting. Lifeguards may not need much money to be attracted to a job the first time, but they need to feel that their contributions are valued by the agency. Of course, money is not the only way to motivate people and it is certainly not the best way. Yet it is seen by most people as a measure of their value. If all they can expect is a small raise each season they may not return. They may take that as the organization saying that it does not value their work.

No matter how well an operation retains staff, there will always be turnover. Lifeguarding is primarily a job for the young and no one stays young forever. It is because of this that aquatic supervisors always have to be on the lookout for new lifeguards, even when they don't have openings at the time. Here we can take a cue from McDonald's. According to Merhman, a typical store manager spends 10 to 20 percent of the time recruiting new workers. McDonald's teaches its managers to use point-of-purchase advertising, community contacts and personal pitches to teens in the restaurant to get new people. They use referral bonuses to encourage their employees to bring in friends. McDonald's also pays employees while they are in training and provides free uniforms. When aquatic supervisors have trouble maintaining adequate staff, they should ask themselves if they put as much of their resources into developing personnel as a McDonald's manager does.

So, where have all the lifeguards gone? If you are waiting for them to come in through your door, you may have a long wait.

About the Author
Ron Shaw is Facilities Supervisor at Buffalo Grove Park District.