Our local mall won’t hire under 18s because they don’t want to deal with labor laws if they have to ask the employee to stay after 10 to stock shelves. Several managers of stores told me that directly. Babysitting and dog sitting are the best money my teen can get, but that’s under the table and very hit or miss. Agree lifeguarding would have been brilliant–but again, that assumes you have a stay at home parent who can schlep them to and fro all the training courses–not in the cards for us at this point in our lives.
The article in the original post states, “Moreover, as The Atlantic pointed out last year, senior citizens and immigrants are competing for the sorts of low-skill jobs that teens would have done in years past.”
I’m shocked that such a racist statement could be made. To blame immigrants for privileged people’s decisions not to seek work is just outrageous and totally racist.
Lots of restaurant and retail jobs here, & we live in an area with a high immigrant population. My D’s friend is even trying to get her to apply at his restaurant employer, because he gets a $150 signing bonus for each hired friend. I imagine it’s more difficult to find summer work only, but employers seem desperate for help here, so it’s probably not impossible.
There is a lot going on in the labor market right now. Start with increasing min wages and mandatory benefits. Add showing up on time, passing drug test, and background checks. Throw on top a bunch of misc regulations. All this making employing people very costly. Since the employee costs more, the employer needs to get more out of the employee. Many high school kids just aren’t worth it. You see places like McDonalds going to kiosk ordering and such. Thus, less jobs.
The article gave a multitude of reasons from social norms, to min wage increases, to immigration, to parents, to middle of career workers( 20 something to 50 something) to closure of retailers and parents. The article did not state senior citizens. Supply and demand of labor effects job availability so immigration is a component in labor. The more people with a certain skill set means employers can pay less and be more selective as they have a bigger pool of candidates. Economically we are diverse and hence your economic opportunities vary based on local conditions.
Automation has a much bigger effect on jobs than immigration.
I would assume that many people on College Confidential live in or near college towns, and a major problem with college towns is that teenagers are forced to compete with college students for work. A problem is also that high schoolers are focused on school during the year, and at least in my town, you need to apply for jobs by early spring or mid-spring at least, and the college students are winding down their school year at this time. Also from what I have seen, College students receive a large priority in the job application process. Outside of college towns it doesn’t seem nearly as hard.
Yes and no. Necessity is the mother of invention. As the labor pool becomes smaller, companies are forced to automate because they can’t find people or the cost of people is too high. It’s only is the last 5-10 years that automation has become really affordable. The Ipad etc. is only $800-$1200 or something. Easily adaptable into a fast food menu. Robots have become “cobots” and can run around $35,000. But the reality is that the human brain is way better than any of today’s automation. Humans can adapt on the fly. Automation isn’t quite there yet.
@FirstGenZ …just curious-- why that assumption?
We live in the suburbs, but certainly not a “college town.”
I think the people on this site are interested in college, they don’t necessarily live next door to one.
our kids have to work over the summer. It helps pay for their college. They start looking for jobs over winter break. Usually they work seasonal jobs. It’s not much to put on a real resume, but they’ve learned some life lessons actually. I’m glad our neck of the woods (midwest) has lots of opportunities job-wise for them.
@bjkmom just an observation I have noticed that I have in common with several fellow users of this website I have talked about various topics with. Parents in college towns also tend to be more interested in where their children go to college from my experience from living near colleges. I did not mean to offend you in any way.
Oh, I’m not offended in the least, just curious. I’ve never asked anyone here where they’re from, so for all I know you could be correct.
Most of the people I’ve gotten to know here have been either high school kids or other parents like me, trying to help their kids navigate the college search.
I always worked when I was a student—part time during the school year and up to full-time every summer from HS on. My S was able to volunteer at a summer program as a JR and they hired him for the following 2 sumners. Thereafter, he got jobs in his field (engineering) by networking and applying from early fall.
D has found jobs in her field (media) much harder to get but she did hold 2 part time positions and since then some “gigs” in her field.
Happy to report that DD20 actually has 2 summer jobs — child care and sports officiating. Sad to report she gave up playing a sport to have time for the summer jobs. The coach punished her last year for even asking about trying to work around non-mandatory summer practices so this season she is opting out. She will have more time for club leadership in the fall as well.
The going rate for entry level teen jobs at grocery stores and the like is $12-15 here. Businesses are having difficulty finding workers. Landscape crews are offering $25/hour.
Finding part-time, seasonal jobs as college student is actually more difficult IMO. In high school, it seems easier because you’re more available throughout the year, but most companies prefer availability with high school students rather than limited time periods with college students. That’s why getting an on or off campus job at college helps.
The other aspect is job availability: Who’s hiring? And will they be flexible around your school and summer schedules?
Right. And that’s the point that a number of us are making: that part time jobs are plentiful. But that employers tend not to want to hire “Summer work”-- kids who will disappear when school starts-- regardless of whether they attend high school or college.
Unless it’s a seasonal business-- say, being hired as a beach lifeguard-- then it makes no sense to train someone for two months of employment.
My daughter decided to rent an apartment in Philadelphia this summer and room with a friend. She walked into several establishments and quickly got a job as a waitress, a position she’s never held before. She was kicking herself for taking the job, because she soon had four other job offers! She turned 20 in April.
We REQUIRED our kids to have summer jobs starting after HS sophomore yr. Just like when we were kids, the results are outstanding. Tremendous growth and maturity. Lessons learned include dealing with the public, dealing with authority (other than a parent, coach or teacher), having to do unpleasant things (like cleaning the restroom) simply because they have to be done, responsibility, etc. Kids have learned all kinds of lessons including the value of money. They now pay for most of their personal things. A great byproduct is also the additional set of friends. S’s latest girlfriend is a coworker (doesn’t seem to complain about going to work anymore - hmmm)
The one negative for S was it meant not playing as much travel baseball during the summer. That it a tough one. He was a good player and likely could have been recruited at a small school D3 (no money for those). But, he didn’t have the burning desire to go that route and he definitely would not have been drafted so getting on with life has been a good thing (plays club ball in college to get his fix). I wish more kids / parents were realistic about this as most of htese kids have NO chance playing at the next level and beyond.
Our son didn’t work summers because of football and wrestling, which were about 5 days per week all summer long. I was the opposite of the poster above- I’ve been working since I was 14 and I didn’t want my kid to miss out on the last 4 years of his sports for a PT job - we had no dreams of athletic scholarships. He did umpire youth baseball games in the spring when wrestling and football both had lulls, and he made enough doing that to hold him over. He’s now doing landscaping FT this summer (just finished freshman year in college) and making a ton of cash! And actually enjoying it despite the 100 degree, nasty humid period we just had.
The problem with my 15 year old is 1. most places nearby want at least 16 and 2. she has no way to get to places that will take 15 year olds! We have no public transportation and the nearest supermarket/fast food joint is 15-20 minutes away. We debated lifeguarding but the $400 fee to take the course turned us off to that one. She also practices all summer long, so this year she’s babysitting a kid or two and helping take care of neighbor’s pets while they go away. Hopefully next year, at 16, she can get in somewhere closer to home.