Economy has teens scrambling for summer work

This summer figures to be the toughest in history for teens looking to land a seasonal job, and the suburbs won't be spared.

"It's been a struggle for a number of years," said Lisa Maentz, youth services coordinator with the Illinois Worknet Center in Arlington Heights. "A lot of what's happening is the other professionals that are no longer able to get jobs, i.e. adults, are coming back and taking what would be the typical youth job back in the day."

The teen employment rate will drop below even last year's historically low level of 34.5 percent, a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University predicted.

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As recently as 2000, that rate was up about 45 percent, having fluctuated between 40 percent and 50 percent throughout the '80s and '90s.

Teens from Illinois, in particular, have dropped out of the seasonal job market. The state's teen summer employment rate plunged from 59 percent in 2000 to 43 percent in 2005.

Only three states saw a steeper drop, the study found.

A separate study by Northern Illinois University documented the same trend for local workers ages 16 to 24, calling the decline troubling.

The rate of young workers in Illinois with a job dropped by about 9 percentage points, to 60 percent, between 2000 and 2006, the NIU study found.

Where the jobs went

Competition for jobs typically held by teens has increased from a number of demographic groups.

Older workers staying in the work force longer, single mothers forced off the welfare rolls, college graduates who cannot find a job in their chosen field and less-educated immigrants all have crowded teens out of the job market, the Northeastern study found.

Competition is particularly fierce this year, with unemployment numbers up and applicants willing to take jobs they otherwise might reject.

"A lot of people are out of work, and people seem willing to take anything at this point," said Michael Buhmann, a career specialist with the Career Resource Center at the Skokie Public Library.

"When the economy is bad, teens have a hard time finding a job," he said.

Analysts say retail jobs, which typically provide summer employment for teens, figure to be especially tough to secure this summer.

"Until retail sales rebound, stores are keeping a pretty lean sales force on the floor," said John Melaniphy III, vice president of development and strategic planning for Oak Brook-based Mid-America Development Partners.

A survey by hourly job Web site SnagAJob.com found 49 percent of hourly hiring managers don't expect to hire any employees this year because of the economic downturn.

Why work matters

Some labor experts have theorized the drop in teen employment is due, in large part, to an uptick in the number of students enrolling in summer school and padding their resumes with activities that don't pay.

"Many teens are focusing on academics instead of working," a 2002 Bureau of Labor Statistics study found.

But other studies claim the causes -- and effects -- of the drop in teen employment are less benign.

The drop in the youth employment rate "suggests an increasing risk of long-term labor market detachment and resulting connections to a larger set of social problems," the NIU study said.

School counselors say a summer job can teach teens much more than how to work a register or bus a table.

"It's definitely important for all young people to have work experience, regardless of where they're going beyond high school," said Bill Ratzburg, director of career and technical education at Elgin Area School District U-46. "Anything we can do to get them real-world experience, so they can see how core academic skills relate to the world of work, is critical."

Brighter news

Despite the dire outlook, some local employers say they're still hiring.

Local park districts, for example, need camp counselors, concession stand workers, lifeguards and other summer staff regardless of the economy.

About 275 teens attended a recent job fair put on by the Dundee Park District, which will employ about 300 young adults this summer, marketing director Helen Shumate said.

"It really looked about the same as in previous years," Shumate said. "The number of teens who participated was very comparable #8230; and our number of jobs was not reduced."

Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, which hires about 4,000 workers every summer, also will provide a steady source of jobs for many area teens. Though the park has processed more inquiries from people looking for second jobs this summer, overall applications and positions have remained steady, the spokeswoman said.

The jobs are out there, experts say. Teens will just have to work a little harder to land them this year.

"When we talk to young people, we talk about standing out," Maentz said. "If they have 50 applications on the desk, how do you get yours up at the top of pile?"