Myrtle Waves looking to hire more lifeguards before summer season
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - The countdown to the summer season is on at Myrtle Waves which opens in just over two weeks.
Last summer was tough with the COVID-19 pandemic still causing a lot of uncertainty.
It wasn’t helped by many J1 students being unable to come in and work from overseas, causing the water park to only be open on weekends due to staffing shortages.
Myrtle Waves owner Mark Lazarus says this summer is already looking to be much better.
“We’re doing pretty well but we can always use more workers,” he said.
Myrtle Waves and Wild Water and Wheels wasted no time hiring starting interviews in January, which included J1 students.
“It’s a pretty big deal for us,” said Lazarus.
The park currently needs people to work admissions, serve up snacks and potentially even save lives. Lazarus added the one position they’re in need of the most is lifeguards.
“We’ve got about 70 and need close to 100 to run all of our shifts,” said Lazarus.
More job applications are expected to be filled once the school year is officially over in early June. Lazarus said a majority of their hires are in high school or college.
“As school lets out a lot more the local kids will start to come out looking for jobs and those kids who get hired start talking with their friends so that helps us out a lot,” he said.
Lazarus also explained that in recent years, they’ve lost a lot of job applicants to traveling sports leagues. Some parents also didn’t want their children working there during the pandemic last year.
However, things are now looking back to normal, including the work schedule.
“Last year was a great year we just had issues with employees,” Lazarus said. “But we’re back to a normalized time which is exciting for us to get back to a normal schedule.”
Myrtle Waves offers on-site training for those interested in the lifeguard position and will open for the summer season on May 21.
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