MINNETONKA - Chest compressions on a manikin. Pool dives with a rescue tube. First aid. At the Ridgedale YMCA, Riley Robinson is learning how to save a life — because in a matter of weeks she may need to do it for real.
Robinson, a 16-year-old junior-to-be and member of the Hopkins High School swimming team, just needs 10 to 15 more hours of lifeguard training before she can start her summer job.
"It's long training, but it's worth it in the end," Robinson said. "I've been swimming my whole life, so I just figured being a lifeguard would be a perfect fit for me."
Pools need more eager faces like Riley Robinson.
"A lifeguard shortage," YMCA Aquatics Director Shannon Kinstler said, "is a real reality we are facing in the YMCA."
In fact, the Greater Twin Cities locations, which stretch from Hudson, Wisc., to Rochester, Minn., could use an extra 200 to 300 lifeguards to ensure full staffing levels this summer. In the mean time, lifeguards will probably need to work longer hours to cover shifts, and local pools may need to absorb the burden.
"Sometimes, we have to adjust our pool hours a little bit -- of what we have in our pools," Kinstler said. "Instead of open swim or swim lessons or being able to serve a lot of people, we have to condense how many people can be in the water at the time."
Twin Cities pools have felt the impact of a lifeguard shortage for at least the past two years — along with the rest of the country. This summer, some smaller pools in Austin, Tex. will see delayed openings because of low staffing levels, and two swim areas in Central New York failed to open for Memorial Day weekend because lifeguards were in short supply.
The tight labor market is part of it: Fewer people are looking for jobs, to put it simply. Secondly, the percentage of teenagers with jobs has dropped dramatically over the past several decades. During the summer of 1978, more than 58 percent of people ages 16 to 19 held jobs in the labor force, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data. That number fell to 52 percent in 1998 and now stands at about 34 percent.
To combat the shortage, the YMCA is offering full-time jobs with benefits, starting at $12 per hour.
"We continue to boost that over the years as the shortage becomes a reality," Kinstler said.
As for Riley Robinson, she's just looking forward to roaming a pool deck this summer. She has her eyes on jobs at both the Ridgedale YMCA and a country club pool.
"It's probably going to be really fun to just sit at the pool this summer," Robinson said, "and be able to help people."