It’s no surprise that recruitment and retention remained one of the top pain points identified in the What Firefighters Want state-of-the-industry report in 2023, with 94% of respondents admitting to staffing challenges as their organization. Of the more than 2,100 firefighters surveyed, 57% considered staffing challenges to be one of the top three least-satisfying aspects of the job.
In the WFW report, respondents offered their thoughts on the challenges facing departments and what leadership could do to move the needle on hiring. (And check out the news and resources to help put these comments into action.)
What firefighters are saying
INCENTIVES
“Those who want to volunteer should have a VOLUNTEER incentive of NO income or property tax payment with proof of 5 years or more service nationwide.”
“Offer help with childcare and increase pay incentives for specialty assignments.”
Incentives in action:
- N.Y. county passes 10% property tax break for volunteer fire, EMS members
- Pa. county issues $47,000 in tax credits to volunteer firefighters, EMS staffers
OUTREACH
“I think we need to be in this for the long haul, which means reaching out to youth at younger ages and seeking more diverse membership by conducting outreach and development to areas in our community where firefighting careers may have not even been considered. It’s long term because we may not see the candidates for 5 to 10 years depending on the intended audience.”
“Get out into the community and have active discussions about what their fire department does for the community.”
“I think we should host more open house events and find ways to be more visible in the community. I also think that offering some medical or retirement benefits would be helpful.”
“Engage in different ways to educate the community. There must be ways that can be developed to increase awareness that many departments are volunteers or combination but still need help with staffing. Many programs generated from the municipal and state level focus on recruitment of police officers, nurses and teachers.”
Outreach in action:
- Pa. FDs partner to attract younger members to the fire service
- Mo. FD reaches out to schools to keep up staffing
PENSIONS AND BENEFITS
“Give a pension to new members. The departments in our area with pensions don’t have a staffing problem. The ones that don’t have staffing issues. It’s not hard to figure out.”
“Benefits have been severely diminished thru the years. People simply are less and less willing to do what we do for the wages and benefits the municipality is willing to compensate for those services.
“Increase salary, committees, more vacation days, better benefits, better health insurance, better retirement plan, more training.”
Pension plans in action:
- Fla. police, firefighters can retire early with pensions under new bill
- N.J. governor signs bill allowing early retirement with pension for more first responders
PAY RAISES
“Raise starting pay to compete with McDonald’s!”
“Pay people a wage worth the education they’ve pursued to obtain the job and serve the community.”
“I think they should increase wages. I think there is an “old guard” in the department which deters some new recruits. The time commitment is also increasing, which deters new members.”
Pay raises in action:
- Ga. city council approves 35% firefighter pay increase
- Minn. council approves wage, training stipend increases for FFs
- Volunteer FFs in Pa. township could earn up to $14K under new program
RECOGNITION
“Recognize employees to show they are appreciated and a valued member of the organization.”
Recognition in action:
- ‘And the winner is ...': Fire service awards to highlight your FD’s best, brightest and bravest
- There is an ‘I’ in team – and it’s good to recognize and reward it
PERSONNEL PROBLEMS
“Fix the personnel issues from within. The disrespect and drama is causing lots of stress, and the community can see it and doesn’t want to work here.”
Personnel problems and solutions in action:
- Gossip at the firehouse: How to enable ‘good gossip’ and shut down negativity
- ‘The rumor meal’: Elevate the kitchen table by eliminating gossip
JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER PROGRAMS
“Do more advertising and increase our junior firefighter program.”
Junior firefighter programs in action:
- N.H. FD sees success with junior firefighter program
- NVFC releases updated Junior Firefighter Program starter kit
- Social media and the Gen Z junior firefighter
“Attempt to understand the needs/wants of the newer generation; admin is out of touch and their planning assumptions have missed the mark.”
In action:
- Effective ways to recruit the next generation of first responders
- Successfully recruiting Generation Z to the fire service
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
- “Basically, anything would be an improvement. We’ll start with some sort of communication.”
- “I think the department should always be ready to run a test or, better yet, always have an active list. I also believe they should be more involved in the line staff and be able to forecast retirements.”
- “A study to identify the root cause, research what others are doing and develop a plan. Lack of planning is a problem for our organization.”
- “I’m not sure there is anything they can do. People just don’t want to work for the government anymore.”
- “More attempts to hire proactively rather than reactively. Consider the impact of multiple concurrent special event details and increased call volume on willingness/ability of members to work voluntary OT.”
- “Establish a strong volunteer cadre to provide surge capacity.”
- “Add to the training/safety division as well as to the overall manpower of the department.”
- “It’s taking longer to hire good recruits, start now for the future. We are always behind. We wait for people to leave or retire before filling a spot you know will be vacant.
- “Be willing to make changes when someone is having a hard time working in sync with others on their shift.”
- “The challenges seem to be beyond what the department can do. It seems to be the attitude of the general public that it requires more time and involvement than they wish to give. Also, a limited amount of personnel to draw from.”
- “Start with accountability for the chief officers. Public announcement of change in culture. Public announcement of commitment to provide assistance to neighbors and mutual aid requests. Increase in salary and benefits to at least median of region. Commitment to increase personnel to meet national and regional standards.”
- “Make some portion of career firefighter pay dependent on volunteer recruitment and retention.
- “Many of our recruitment and retention programs, although with great possibilities, are kind of half implemented.”
