|
|
| Teens losing jobs to older workers |
| By The Flint Journal |
| Published: 04/05/2004 |
|
Analysts expect this year's job market for teenagers to be virtually the same as last year's-the worst in half a century. The combination of a shaky economy, an abundance of older workers in the marketplace and more selective employers means landing those traditionally teenage jobs at fast-food restaurants and mall retail stores is no longer a cinch. "We've gone from 1999, which was statistically the best year ever, to 2003, which was probably one of the worst in 55 years," said Renee Ward, founder of the California-based teens4hire.org website, which links its 1.5 million teenage members with employers. In Michigan, the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds was 17.5 percent last year, up from 15.6 percent in 2002 and 15.8 percent in 2001, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A report released last fall by Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies showed that summer employment nationally last year was down 1 million from 2003. Jeff Aula of the state Dept. of Labor said estimates about this year's teen employment picture should be available later in the spring. "In the late '90s, they couldn't find enough young people to fill jobs, thinking that their tech-savviness and knowledge of the Internet were great assets," Ward said. "Those opportunities have dried up." But so have opportunities in jobs traditionally associated with teens, such as fast-food servers. Damien Brookings of Flint said he's applied at several sit-down and fast food restaurants, but his phone has yet to ring. Analysts identify several factors contributing to the malaise in teen hiring, starting with the abundance of experienced workers seeking jobs. The downsizing and layoffs since the recession of 2001 have put plenty of new job seekers into the market and taking jobs that have been the domain of teenagers. Ten-to-one employers are favoring older workers. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think