WAUKESHA – It’s only a few weeks until the Waukesha pools open up to swimmers and the Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department is busy prepping the pools and training the lifeguards who have been hired for the summer months.

Each year, the Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department hires about 300 employees for the summer (they only have 100 employees the rest of the year). Mona Bauer, customer and administrative services manager for the city department, said the number of summer hires has remain consistent for the past few years – and all but a couple of positions have already been filled.

The number of companies planning to hire summer employees is continuing to increase after years of cutting back during the recession. According to the CareerBuilder's annual Summer Jobs Forecast, nearly three in 10 employers, or 29 percent, report they intend to hire summer workers this year. This predicted number is the same as 2012, but up from an average of 21 percent from 2008 to 2011, according to CareerBuilder.

For more on this story, read Tuesday’s Freeman.