As Fitness Industry Faces Staffing Crisis, Instructors Hold the Cards

With gyms struggling to fill positions, experienced trainers and independent instructors are in high demand, reshaping the fitness job market.

The Pvolve franchise’s expansion into live studios means more instructors will be needed.

It’s a good time to be a good fitness instructor.

“There is, without a doubt, a mass staffing crisis in the industry,” says Studio Grow founder Lise Kuecker, who estimates that at least three open positions exist for every available fitness instructor. Experienced teachers, according to Kuecker, are in particularly high demand: her consultancy, founded in 2016, advises the “boutique” segment of fitness studios—which is seeing some of the biggest increases in the $22 billion health club industry, and whose revenues spiked 37 percent in 2022 alone, according to the Health and Fitness Association. But Kuecker expects a quandary: during the last four years, the industry has lost “50 percent of our mid-to-upper-level people,” she relates.

As health clubs predict a 12 percent spike in memberships this month, increased staffing challenges will mean oversubscribed group classes and fewer personal trainers on the floor.