Thread: Jobs Americans Won’t Do - Can’t Get

Posted by thebaldchick
Source: CSM

It may be easier for Indiana Jones to uncover an extraterrestrial artifact than for a teenager to dig up a job this summer. Prospects for such seasonal work look grim, which makes it all the more important for teens not to give up – and to think creatively.
Many American teens will be off to camp or summer school. Others may travel or simply want to stay home. But for the rest, competition for summer jobs is expected to be fierce.
Only about one-third of teenagers 16-to-19-years-old will find a job this summer, a sign of slow economic growth and higher minimum wage for all workers in the US. In fact, their employment rate this season is expected to be the lowest in six decades, according to a study from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

The lowest summer employment for teens since WWII? And according to the study, the outlook is most bleak for low-income and minority youths — in other words, those who need it most.
And why are summer jobs for teens so valuable?

Summer jobs are much more than a way to earn money for the next video game or pair of sneakers. In poor families, they provide a crucial boost in household income. More than that, these jobs provide valuable experience, which leads to better employment records, the study says.
Disadvantaged teens who work in the summer are more likely to stay in school. Teen pregnancy rates are lower in urban areas where more young women work.

The article goes on to detail reason for this scarcity of jobs for America’s willing and hard-working teenagers this summer — from a tight economy to unemployed older workers being tapped for traditionally teen jobs. And yet somehow, magically, miraculously, the author manages to avoid mentioning another group of people who are being hired to fill those jobs.
Wait. Give me minute…it’ll come to me. Who else could possibly be competing for all those fast food jobs, dish washing and table-busing jobs, landscaping jobs?

http://freedomfolks.com/blog/?p=3225

I think this is being reported extensively. Perhaps people will begin to believe us about the negative impact on American workers.

Speaking from personal experience I have an eighteen year old daughter that starts college in the fall.She began looking for a job when she turned sixteen and began driving.After looking for anything she could find for a year she finally gave up.

Allmost every fast food joint in the city has adults working for them,these jobs were allways filled with teenagers in the past.

Funny thing is that when george w was on TV the other day his answer to the economy was pushing congress to make his tax cuts permanent.Yes it is a great economy and thank you GW.

All we need is to quadruple our work visa programs and grant amnesty to 20-30 million illegals that would surely help us a lot.

Thank you to all you "geniuses" in washington DC

My oldest one, now 25, was never able to get a job as a teen.

Our son, who is 14, almost 15, has a good job at his dad's work for the summer. The business owner prfers ot hire the employee's kids to give them a chance to work and get job experience, and he feels they will perform well with their parents in the same workplace as well, which of course, they do.

We were proud of him as last year he worked only for about 4 weeks after turning 14, and so far 4 supervisors have been vying for him and even having meetings about who will get him for the summer.

I think that he will maintain that job throughout his teens for the summers, he likes it and knows he is lucky to have that opportunity.

Americans and legal residents can't get these kinds of jobs because the greedy employer WON'T hire them!

We live in a small town, population 7,000. I have always been pleased to notice high school students, not immigrants working in the fast food restaurants.

My grandaughter has always pestered us wanting a job. We told her to concentrate on her grades, sports and being a kid. She, has made us proud. Now she is 16 a senior and has everything lined up for college. We agreed that it was time for her to include the working experience, to save for the little extras she wants, you know the car, the insurance.

Unfortunately, things have changed, she is finding that now, to work in the fast food restaurant business locally, they are giving preference to 18 year olds with a high school diploma.

I can understand their reasoning, but it is tough on the high school students who really want or need a job.

The Christian Science Monitor did not mention the presence of many illegal workers in this story. I consider that a serious omission. Good reporting should at least take a stab at the question Who has those jobs?

It sure would be nice if all those kids would stop eating at the restaruants and start cooking their own hamburgers and delievering to people, mostly the other students and their families. That would be pretty good because usually people get tired of eating the same thing all the time. They could also buy the ingrediants from a farmers market and butcher shop. After the people taste those real burgers and fries, they will never go back to those cruddy Macdonalds and burger king places. Plus they'd make more money!

I'm game!

Ooooh Chexfive, you made me think of something. We made hamburgers on the grill not long ago (and yes it was raining, but if we did not we'd never get to around here), and we used briquette heat, but had put on some wet alder chips, GEEZ!! SO much better than ANY fast food burger, it did not hardly need any condiments at all.

Ok, sorry, you made me remember that and I had to mention it in light of that versus fast food.