Thread: Immigrants taking many entry-level jobs

Teens seeking work face fierce competition
Older workers, immigrants taking many entry-level jobs

By Martin Wolk
MSNBC

Updated: 6:09 p.m. ET June 2, 2005

Like most things in life, finding a summer job is a bit more complicated than it used to be.
No longer is it a simple matter of walking into the neighborhood drug store and asking the pharmacist if he needs some help in the stock room. If the store has not been run out of business entirely by a nearby supercenter, it probably is owned by a national chain that may only accept applications at central headquarters. And the company may not want to bother with inexperienced teenagers looking for short-term employment.

For teens, the competition can be fierce. In the aftermath of the dot-com bust, millions of older workers have come out of retirement or simply stayed in the work force. In many states immigrants are a huge factor in seeking entry-level jobs that might have gone to teens in the past. And slow job growth since the recession ended in 2001 has forced many college graduates to take temporary jobs at retail stores, restaurants and call centers.

While the economy has added more than 3 million jobs over the past 18 months, teens are likely to have a tough time finding work this summer, experts say.

“Teens are having a much harder time getting work,� said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Not just in summer but year-round. … That is partly a new phenomenon. There is something structural going on in the labor market that has made it a lot harder for kids to find work.�

Younger workers always suffer first when the job market turns south in a recession, and the latest business cycle was no exception. But after past recessions, in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, teen employment snapped back quickly. Not so this time, said Sum.

Only about 41 percent of young people aged 16-19 worked last summer, down from 52 percent at the height of the economic expansion in 2000, Sum said. And based on employment figures from the first four months of this year, Sum expects little improvement this summer.

“The developments of the last two years are surprising,� he said. “We have had job growth for 20 months, and teens have gotten zero percent of that job growth.�

Summer jobs still exist, of course, especially at seasonal businesses like theme parks, golf clubs and landscapers. And they are well worth seeking out, say employment experts who say summer employment remains a good way to ease students into the work force.

“Getting a summer job is a good way to learn discipline – to get up on time and to meet expectations of someone other than your parents or teacher. It’s very valuable,� said John Challenger, chief executive officer of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

And plenty of teens want to work, said Renee Ward, a recruiter who runs a Web site for young job-seekers called Teens4Hire.org. She said 80 percent of kids 14 and 15 years old express a desire to work, although many employers are leery of hiring children that young because of laws that restrict their hours and what they can do. Sum estimated there are some 3.5 million older teens â€â€

They can always start their own business. I used to mow lawns and clean pools in my town. They could do the same if they needed to, they just have to be creative and inventive which might be tough since being creative and inventive isn’t allowed in the No Child left with a mind program.

They can always start their own business. I used to mow lawns and clean pools in my town. They could do the same if they needed to, they just have to be creative and inventive which might be tough since being creative and inventive isn’t allowed in the No Child left with a mind program.

When I was little, I lived in a very rural NC town. On Fire Tower Road. (Like I said, rural). I sold seeds to neighbors who saved their seeds from last year, but they bought them from me, anyway. I guess I was just too cute to resist. If you'da seen me, you'd know that ain't so!

They could always try that. I was a very young entrepreneur. You must start early.

I learned that a degree is something you hang on the wall, and wish your parents hadn't mortgaged the house for. Most people do not find jobs in the positions they graduated in anyway. Very sad.

The sad reality is that illegal immigrants are turning entry level jobs into to career jobs. Obviously employers like it since they don't have to train and hire new employees as often, and they have less work scheduling conflicts with illegals because they don't go to school. But it is making it harder for young people to get their first job and some valuable work experience. However, I think the article is more fuel for the fire that we really don't need illegal immigrants for all these jobs they say Americans won't do.

Ya think? We have sky rocketing unemployment rates of Legal US citizens. How in the world our Government can look us in the eye and say we need illegal aliens (economic terrorists) to do any jobs at all in the USA is ludicrous.

They speak with forked tongues through both sides of their mouths!!