El Paso County lifeguards see pay increase of $14 to help offset nationwide shortage

EL PASO, Texas -- Lifeguards working within the county's three pools will now make $14 per hour after county commissioner approved the pay increase on Monday.

Lifeguards currently make $13.02 and lead lifeguards make one dollar more. The pay bump of 98 cents will also apply to lead lifeguards. Applicants can also qualify for an $800 incentive pay. Commissioners also approved overtime pay for current employees.

The county currently has 11 lifeguards and is hoping to reach 19, a number they were able to maintain back in 2018.

During a county commissioner's meeting Monday, Valeria Fernandez, HR Manager for El Paso County said that drop in employees was due first to the Covid pandemic, and now due to the nationwide labor shortages. 

Veronica Myers, parks and recreation director for the county, said they are getting candidates, however, they are struggling to get them certified.

Unlike the city, the county does not offer certification classes.

"We need more trainers, more people to be (certified) lifeguard instructors to be able to train our lifeguards and right now we're not we don't have that certification. So we're working on that," Myers said.

She added that the department is working to hire a permanent lifeguard trainer who can certify other people in-house.

"It's a seasonal job. It's just summer. So, that's hard. So we hope with this incentives that we can attract more people, more lifeguards to come and work for the county."

The City of El Paso also working to be competitive. While lifeguards only make $11.92 per hour, the city is offering a $1,000 bonus along with tuition reimbursement to attract more students to apply.

To apply for the county, click here.

To apply for the city, click here.