AUSTIN, Texas — Sofia Pena is a 17-year-old lifeguard at Barton Springs Pool in Austin. She's been a lifeguard for over a year, spending most days keeping watch at the popular tourist spot, where she’s feeling the effects of staffing shortages in the aquatics department firsthand.
“At Barton Springs, it’s a natural pool and it’s a tourist attraction. It’s a lot more rules to enforce, it’s a bigger job,” Pena said.
Pena tells us the role of a lifeguard goes beyond just watching people swim in the pool. The job is interacting with visitors outside of the water among other duties at the facility.
“Because it’s Barton Springs we have to clean the bathrooms, we have to do hill sweeps, we have to make sure everything is running smoothly, and with the amount of lifeguards we have that is very hard,” said Pena.
She believes a wage increase and benefits for all City of Austin lifeguards are key factors in attracting more lifeguards as the summer months approach.
Pena, along with a group of city lifeguards, is proposing a wage increase to $22/hour for city pools and an additional $2 increase for lifeguards at Barton Springs Pool because of the extra workload, totaling $24/hour at Barton Springs.
She feels incentives such as full-time employment and benefits along with a livable wage increase will entice applicants as the city struggles to fill lifeguard positions. The shortage prompted the pool at Barton Springs to close twice a week.
Austin City Council member Paige Ellis says it all comes down to balance when considering lifeguard wages.
“What we are seeing now is a situation where council is going to have to decide with city management, do we do hourly increases or incentives, stipends and bonuses?” said Ellis.
“The situation we have to balance right now is if we do hourly wages, we have to factor that into every budget cycle moving forward to make sure we can offer that competitive wage," she continued. "So we need to balance the needs of our community and the desire of the community members to use our pools with the fact that it’s very hard for a city wage to keep up with the cost of living.”
As for Pena, she says lifeguarding is an amazing job and she’s loving every minute of it. She just hopes the shortage comes to an end soon.
“I love it. This past year has been a great experience working here,” she said.
