For some reason illegal immigration is not mentioned as one of the reasons teens cannot find a job.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/busi ... 0jobs.html

For teens, help not wanted


Economic forces conspire to make San Diego summer job hunting harder
By David Washburn
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 20, 2005

Martha Flores has been job hunting for more than a month now, dropping off applications at 20-odd stores and restaurants near her southeastern San Diego home.

So far, nothing. Not even a call back for an interview. Nonetheless, the 17-year-old San Diego High School student remains hopeful.






FRED GREAVES
Martha Flores, 17, honed her computer skills in the hope that they will help her find a job after more than a month of looking.
"I think I will find a job soon," she said last week.
While Flores' positive attitude might be enough for her to land a job, the odds increasingly are against her. Economic trends have made finding a summer job more difficult for teens today than at any time in the past half-century.

The situation is particularly daunting for someone like Flores from a low-income, urban neighborhood. There are fewer opportunities near her home, and she lacks transportation to commute to where the jobs are.

As recently as 2000, 45 percent of teens nationwide had summer jobs, but the rate has dropped steadily since the 2001 recession, and last summer's rate was 36.3 percent, according to a study by Paul Harrington for the Center for Labor Market Studies at Boston's Northeastern University. California had one of the lowest rates in the country, with 31 percent of its teens employed.

Harrington and other experts say the percentage of teens with jobs this summer will be at least as low and probably lower.

The San Diego Unified School District has issued 5,101 work permits this year, a 21 percent drop from the same period a year ago. The number of permits from some schools in low-income neighborhoods dropped by more than 30 percent.

Before a business can hire a minor, it must submit a work permit to the potential employee's high school.

"Companies these days are reluctant to bring people on the payroll, especially teenagers," Harrington said.

Young people and low-skilled workers always have been hit the hardest during and after economic slowdowns. But in the past, dramatic dips in teen employment were followed by gradual recovery.

From 1989 to 1992, the teen employment rate dropped from 48 percent to 40 percent. By 1996, it was up to 42 percent. This time, however, the employment rate is continuing to fall.

Economists and others who watch teen employment say there is more behind the trend than a temporary drop in hiring. They fear that factors such as tougher high school graduation requirements and a fundamentally different workplace are pushing down teen employment, perhaps permanently.

Students are taking more tests, and some school districts require community service projects. Add in ever-stiffening competition for slots at good colleges, and getting a job slips further down the list of priorities for many teens.

"It's a struggle," said Kelly Henwood of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. "The academics and testing requirements supersede the needs among young people to get work experience and earn money."

Notwithstanding the changing priorities, economists and employment experts say there is still a growing percentage of teens who want seasonal work but can't find it.

"What we are seeing are huge structural changes in the nature of employment," said Bruce Tulgan, a Connecticut-based management consultant. "And I think the 16-to 19-year-old group, especially at the lower end, is a real area of concern going forward."

The bottom line, Tulgan and others say, is that much of the grunt work done by the teens of yesteryear has been either outsourced, automated or taken by older workers.

McDonald's needs fewer clerks because of better cash registers and fewer fry cooks because of equipment upgrades. Many call centers, which used to employ teens by the score, have been moved overseas. Even janitorial work has been improved and streamlined.

The jobs that are left require more of what employers call "soft skills," the ability to look presentable, be well-spoken and deal with customers in a professional manner. And in today's competitive job market, businesses can get an adult work ethic at teen prices.

"It is very difficult," said Rudy Walker, program manager for San Diego Youth at Work, a mentoring program run through Episcopal Community Services. "The standard old-school teenage job at Jack in the Box is now a second job for an adult."

A recent survey of the hospitality industry by Indianapolis-based Workforce Associates concluded that most teens aren't ready for jobs requiring a lot of customer service, said Richard W. Judy, the consulting firm's chief executive.

"The kids did not have a clue how to present themselves for job interviews," Judy said. "Their hair wasn't combed. They wore sloppy clothes."

That's not the case with Mike Thomason. The Serra High student has a 3.9 grade-point average, is involved in student government and is a member of the yearbook staff.

He is finishing the first year of a coveted two-year internship with Washington Mutual Bank and said the job market isn't bad for teens who are determined to find work.

"There are a lot of opportunities," Thomason said. "Often times kids don't have the initiative to go after them."

Tulgan says Thomason feels that way because he is at the top of what is becoming a two-tiered employment market for young people. Summer jobs are increasingly going to kids who are from more affluent families and are college-bound.

The irony is that these students will need only low-skill jobs while they are in high school and maybe during their first years in college. Meanwhile, those who do not go to college – and who might need these jobs for most of their working life – aren't getting any experience in the work force.

"So we have an ever-growing segment of underemployed people at the low end," Tulgan said.

San Diego Youth at Work and other community programs work to help low-income students develop soft skills for today's job market. But such programs have been victims of the state and federal budget axes in recent years. Youth at Work has lost its federal grant and likely will cease to exist by the end of the year.

The San Diego Unified School District has an Employer Outreach Specialist for each school to help students find jobs and fill out employment paperwork. But the specialists' hours were cut this year, which some say has directly contributed to the drop in work permits issued.

"As programs like this go away, where are the kids going to go?" Walker said. "I know – more kids on the street, more problems. ... It's a snowball effect."

San Diego County's relatively strong economy means there are still more entry-level jobs for teens here than in some areas of the country. SeaWorld employs 800 kids under 18, and the county is home to eight malls, three outlet centers and a world-famous zoo. But the kids who need these jobs the most face significant barriers in getting them.

Harrington's study shows that where a teen lives and his or her family's income are strong indicators of their success in the job market.

Inner-city teens have employment rates 12 percent lower than their counterparts in the suburbs. And while about half of teens in households with incomes above $60,000 are employed, households with incomes at $40,000 or below have a teen employment rate of 38 percent.

Paul Phaneuf sees this divide at ground level.

Since 1997, Phaneuf's job with the San Diego Unified School District has been to help high school students find jobs. He started by keeping a close eye on the CalJobs Web site, which advertises public-and private-sector job openings throughout the state.

But in 2000, the number of entry-level openings posted on the site for San Diego began to dwindle. Phaneuf lost faith in CalJobs and started compiling his own list.

Since then, Phaneuf regularly visits or calls all of the county's malls and other places with high concentrations of entry-level positions and copies down the openings for "the list," as it is known throughout the district. Phaneuf's list is so popular among students that teachers have told him that classroom attendance goes up on the days it is handed out.

Phaneuf said his list reflects most of the economic realities of San Diego: Those who live north of Interstate 8 are generally better off economically than those who live south of I-8, and that includes teens in the summer job market.

"The more affluent areas have more entry-level jobs available," Phaneuf said. "All the jobs are at UTC (University Towne Centre), where kids don't need to work."

The Westfield Shoppingtown at UTC, which is near La Jolla, had 106 stores with job openings last week. Travel 20 miles to the Chula Vista mall, and seven stores have openings.

Consider the different realities in Martha Flores' and Mike Thomason's neighborhoods.

Just counting shopping malls and outlet centers, there are roughly 150 stores with job openings within a 5-mile radius of Thomason's house. Flores, on the other hand, lives within five miles of half as many stores with openings.

And a teenager living in an area where most of the adults work enjoys built-in advantages beyond proximity to employers.

"Go to a hospital and see an 18-year-old in hospital garb, and I can almost guarantee you that a family member or close friend got him that job," Harrington said.

"But go to a low-income neighborhood and kids are competing with family members for jobs."

Henwood said the San Diego Workforce Partnership is working on a marketing campaign aimed at businesses to encourage more internships for low-income kids.

"We're telling them to get these kids early because you will need them later," Henwood said.

Meanwhile, Tulgan is coaching teens to be more entrepreneurial.

They can't just show up and expect to be handed a menial job, he said. Young people must be self starters and more skilled at building professional relationships.

"These days you are in business for yourself," he said. "It's 'You Inc.' "