July 12, 2012
Teens Need Not Apply
Traditionally, retail jobs have provided many teenagers with their first experience in the working world. It’s also common to hear a retail legend reminisce about how toiling on the selling floor during high school years provided the inspiration for their vaunted careers.
Unfortunately, chances for teens to land a job today at retail or elsewhere are few and far between.
The national teen unemployment rate — which only accounts for 16- through 19-year-olds actually looking for work — soared to 24.2 percent last year from 14.9 percent in 2008 when the Great Recession started, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. In June 2012, the teen national unemployment rate remained an anemic 23.7 percent.
The culprit lately appears to be competition from older, more experienced workers, especially in industries like food service and retail. In the downturn, out-of-work adults, debt-laden college graduates, retirees forced to stay in the job market to supplement their retirement income, as well as immigrants are reportedly snatching up all the low-paying, low-skill jobs that normally go to teens.
The overall decline has been particularly sharp since 2000 when employment for 16-to-19-year olds fell to the lowest level since World War II, according to an analysis of Census Bureau Current Population Survey by Northeastern’s Center for Labor Market Studies (CLMS).
Some of the drop can be explained by more youths spending summer months in school, at music or learning camps or in other activities geared for college. But the challenge of landing a job is said to be particularly felt by teens who aren’t attending four-year colleges and lack the skills and training to successfully compete in the labor force.
"We are truly in a labor market depression for teens," Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, told the Associated Press.
- More than seven in 10 U.S. teens jobless in Summer – USA Today
- The Great Recession of 2007-2009, the Lagging Jobs Recovery, and the Missing 5-6 Million National Labor Force Participants in 2011 – Northeastern’s Center for Labor Market Studies
- Jobless teens face dog daze of bummer – New York Post
- Taunton teens hard-pressed to land summer employment – Taunton Gazette
- Summer employment opportunities scarce, say teens – Sentinel And Enterprise
- More than 7 in 10 U.S. Teens Jobless This Summer – NCPA.ORG
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions: Should stores be more active in hiring teens? How important are teen jobs as a recruitment vehicle and training ground for the retail industry?
Poll
Like many who have spent a lifetime in retail, I started working in a supermarket at 16. My mother, who worked for Sears, had advised me not to go into retail, but I am still at it many years later. Like most who stayed in retail, I found it to be a great business — fast paced, always changing, and challenging.
All that being said, as an employer givien the choice between a teenager with little to no experience versus a more seasoned individual with retail experience for the same or nearly the same money, the decision is easy. What’s good for the retailer may not be good for retail, but in in these difficult times, who can blame someone for seeking value in employees when we expect customers to do it with products?
Teen hiring is risky, as in Ohio, where we are forced to give raises every year, with their new law. Who is going to pay a 16 year old 8-10 dollars an hour, when they can get an experienced adult, who either retired early, or really needs the job? I still hire teenagers, as they need a chance to work, and have seen many do well. The employment climate sucks for everybody, and teens will continue to suffer the most as a consequence.
These statistics remind me of the aired overall unemployment rate. It depends on who is airing the news. If you want it to appear better than it is you slant the numbers to better fit your position and vice versa. More teens go to camp or stay in summer school because they have no choice or job. If they could find summer employment, they would. Then the numbers would look better for those politico’s who march to that position.
Teen unemployment is a serious matter. It will not change until the overall job market improves. The job market will never return to where it was. But there has to be improvement so the trickle up process can begin; thus creating opportunities for those school age young people needing jobs.
The answer to the second question is, “very important.”
The answer to the first question is, “Why wouldn’t an employer hire the most qualified worker — regardless of age — assuming the hiring price point was equal?”
It’s likely that the big loser in this situation will be the retailers of 10 to 20 years from now who will be missing a generation of potential executives. That said, it does make more sense for retail employers to take advantage of the substantial pool of more experienced workers that the economy has sadly made available. And since these individuals are in dire need of employment, it’s a good thing that retail jobs are open for them. However, a 24% unemployment rate (triple the national average) among teenagers calls for a response, and this might be the opportunity for retail companies to get deeper into internships to develop tomorrow’s managers.
There are fewer jobs for teens in the retail industry. Industry reps complain about the difficulty of recruiting college grads. How and why will new college grads gain knowledge about possible career paths in the retail industry with little exposure? Hiring teens and providing some information about long term career potential could have some interesting potential.
How many times have we heard or read about senior executives at grocery companies getting their first part-time job as teens in the local supermarket? If it works, don’t fix it. Not hiring teens today may come back to haunt grocery retail in 5 to 10 years when young men and women chose careers other than food retailing.
Given the consistently high turnover and relatively lower wages for these jobs it is hard for me to imagine that retailers are now going to adopt a hiring policy that may or may not have a benefit a decade or more out.
It’s an interesting intellectual discussion, but doesn’t really apply in the trenches of today’s retail store operations.
This isn’t just an American problem.
The causes and effects in Britain are very similar (although there are fewer young people spending their summers in school or camps, which we don’t even have here in the way that you guys do). There is similarly disastrous potential for the future of individuals, businesses and the country in general.
While I agree with other comments that today’s retailers, perhaps sadly, have a great deal of choice from amongst unemployed adults with at least a bit of experience and, of course, need to try to minimise their costs while maximising their income and profits, it also seems very shortsighted not to employ and train young people who are, as the cliche says, the future.
The current economic times have brought changes to all levels of the job market. Unfortunately, teens seem to lose out due to their lack of experience when competing against the more experienced unemployed looking for work. Teen jobs are important to allow young people to gather real experience for the potential future career decisions ahead of them. Programs from my youth, such as the Explorer Scouts and volunteer programs, allowed teenagers to broaden their knowledge of challenges and job skills in a variety of fields. Perhaps there should be more of these programs today.
Retail executives and front line managers with both success and staying power in the industry for the most part, are found to have both long tenure and ground floor experience. The present day economic depression will create a gap in the number of key people needed and available in retail positions in the not to distant future. The boomer retirement will shorten the time to develop this need significantly. The inability to support hiring and training new talent due to depressed sales may also create an over burdening of those in position with. This will allow for the potential of massive burnouts which may widen the gap further or even worse cause the employment of inept and under developed management teams. What a mess this economy is creating.
There are jobs out there for teens, just not everywhere. There have never been jobs for teens everywhere. Sure we are in a recession, but I was in my local McDonald’s yesterday and there were two teens behind the register. They were clean and had smiles on their faces. Their uniforms were properly fitted and they handled our orders with ease. However, they didn’t have the nose rings, piercings or visible tattoos, that many of today’s youth find — “fashionable.”
If teens want jobs, they have to consider that a job entails doing what the boss wants, when the boss wants, the way the boss wants it done. A job, in many ways contradicts the “free spirit,” non compete ethos we seem to be teaching in many of our schools. The fact is that many teens aren’t presentable, aren’t reliable, and have no sense of duty. But if they want to work, they can find work.
If I say “yes” to hiring more teens, am I not implicitly saying “no” to hiring adults (or maybe firing some of the ones already hired)? The problem, of course, is unemployment in general, not just with certain age groups. Naturally we still have people claiming there isn’t a job shortage, but rather a “good worker” shortage, and if everyone just looked more like Dobie Gillis and less like Maynard Krebs, then no one would be jobless…sure. While we’re at it, let’s put out the (other) usual bromide — a lowered minimum wage; nothing unreasonable, of course: the New Deal offered 10 cents/hr, but that was a long time ago, so maybe we should move that up to 25 cents….
My son was fortunate to find employment in a local branch of a regional grocery that still employs “courtesy clerks” to bag and carry out groceries to cars. They appear to be committed to this model and also wanting to hire some local faces when they came into our town (a DC suburb). They have been very understanding with scheduling, etc. That being said, he has virtually no peers at work and I think that has been tough on putting a positive spin on retail as a career or continued job choice.
I think another challenge, at least for grocery, is these types of jobs are being eliminated with cashiers bagging, etc.
On another note, I hope college admissions offices put equal value on a summer/school year job as they do on attending an enrichment program at a college, SAT boot camps, etc. I am not putting down those choices, but not everyone has the means to make that choice.
In my experience, the college-prep teens are a better *quality* hire than an adult. They absolutely require more supervision and training because they are totally new at the working world. However, I can train them the way I want them, they have fewer *issues* and the teens tend to be more reliable even if I have annual turnover when they head off to college.
The stores that should be hiring teens heavily are the ones who’s customer base skews young; simple as that.
I think work experience of most any kind during high school builds character and is a step on the path to being a good business person. However in today’s multi-channel environment, I think the skill set to be a retail executive is shifting towards the digital and the analytical. So, I don’t think that early experience “on the floor” will be a particular advantage for execs 10-20 years from now.
Stores are plenty active in hiring teens. I have several clients that love hiring teens with a lot of energy. The problem is not with teen unemployment but with unemployable teens. Retailers want to hire the Stepford Children not goth punk rockers. Believe me, if you are a teen that is good looking, has a good smile, good grades, fit, and well dressed, finding a job is no problem.
Some of this tends to be regional… and also varies by retailer. Without going into specific comments about specific chains or regions, when you look at the employee profile of swing shift staff at a grocer, or at a fast food place, depending on area, or chain, you can draw your conclusions. I think certain chains definitely try not to hire teens. I don’t want to name names but I’m thinking of the largest….
In some states, this may be due to labor laws that do not allow you to work teens past a certain time and other things like not allowing the under 18 group to operate a box compactor or a deli meat slicer.
The key for retailers now is to hire the best person — no matter the age — depending on the customer type they serve. The store team is an extension of the actual store assortment, pricing, etc. Many retailers are measured by shoppers on the total experience — product, people, price, etc.
Another group for retailers to consider are the kids back from Iraq. There are many young people just back from Iraq that need to get back into their communities. My son is one of them. He has been hunting for a job to match his degree, but has decided to apply with a large retailer that wants vets. His operations and platoon management experience will be of great value to this retailer — and they know it.
Hire a vet or the next best for the job!
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Like many who have spent a lifetime in retail, I started working in a supermarket at 16. My mother, who worked for Sears, had advised me not to go into retail, but I am still at it many years later. Like most who stayed in retail, I found it to be a great business — fast paced, always changing, and challenging.
All that being said, as an employer givien the choice between a teenager with little to no experience versus a more seasoned individual with retail experience for the same or nearly the same money, the decision is easy. What’s good for the retailer may not be good for retail, but in in these difficult times, who can blame someone for seeking value in employees when we expect customers to do it with products?
Teen hiring is risky, as in Ohio, where we are forced to give raises every year, with their new law. Who is going to pay a 16 year old 8-10 dollars an hour, when they can get an experienced adult, who either retired early, or really needs the job? I still hire teenagers, as they need a chance to work, and have seen many do well. The employment climate sucks for everybody, and teens will continue to suffer the most as a consequence.
These statistics remind me of the aired overall unemployment rate. It depends on who is airing the news. If you want it to appear better than it is you slant the numbers to better fit your position and vice versa. More teens go to camp or stay in summer school because they have no choice or job. If they could find summer employment, they would. Then the numbers would look better for those politico’s who march to that position.
Teen unemployment is a serious matter. It will not change until the overall job market improves. The job market will never return to where it was. But there has to be improvement so the trickle up process can begin; thus creating opportunities for those school age young people needing jobs.
The answer to the second question is, “very important.”
The answer to the first question is, “Why wouldn’t an employer hire the most qualified worker — regardless of age — assuming the hiring price point was equal?”
It’s likely that the big loser in this situation will be the retailers of 10 to 20 years from now who will be missing a generation of potential executives. That said, it does make more sense for retail employers to take advantage of the substantial pool of more experienced workers that the economy has sadly made available. And since these individuals are in dire need of employment, it’s a good thing that retail jobs are open for them. However, a 24% unemployment rate (triple the national average) among teenagers calls for a response, and this might be the opportunity for retail companies to get deeper into internships to develop tomorrow’s managers.
There are fewer jobs for teens in the retail industry. Industry reps complain about the difficulty of recruiting college grads. How and why will new college grads gain knowledge about possible career paths in the retail industry with little exposure? Hiring teens and providing some information about long term career potential could have some interesting potential.
How many times have we heard or read about senior executives at grocery companies getting their first part-time job as teens in the local supermarket? If it works, don’t fix it. Not hiring teens today may come back to haunt grocery retail in 5 to 10 years when young men and women chose careers other than food retailing.
Given the consistently high turnover and relatively lower wages for these jobs it is hard for me to imagine that retailers are now going to adopt a hiring policy that may or may not have a benefit a decade or more out.
It’s an interesting intellectual discussion, but doesn’t really apply in the trenches of today’s retail store operations.
This isn’t just an American problem.
The causes and effects in Britain are very similar (although there are fewer young people spending their summers in school or camps, which we don’t even have here in the way that you guys do). There is similarly disastrous potential for the future of individuals, businesses and the country in general.
While I agree with other comments that today’s retailers, perhaps sadly, have a great deal of choice from amongst unemployed adults with at least a bit of experience and, of course, need to try to minimise their costs while maximising their income and profits, it also seems very shortsighted not to employ and train young people who are, as the cliche says, the future.
The current economic times have brought changes to all levels of the job market. Unfortunately, teens seem to lose out due to their lack of experience when competing against the more experienced unemployed looking for work. Teen jobs are important to allow young people to gather real experience for the potential future career decisions ahead of them. Programs from my youth, such as the Explorer Scouts and volunteer programs, allowed teenagers to broaden their knowledge of challenges and job skills in a variety of fields. Perhaps there should be more of these programs today.
Retail executives and front line managers with both success and staying power in the industry for the most part, are found to have both long tenure and ground floor experience. The present day economic depression will create a gap in the number of key people needed and available in retail positions in the not to distant future. The boomer retirement will shorten the time to develop this need significantly. The inability to support hiring and training new talent due to depressed sales may also create an over burdening of those in position with. This will allow for the potential of massive burnouts which may widen the gap further or even worse cause the employment of inept and under developed management teams. What a mess this economy is creating.
There are jobs out there for teens, just not everywhere. There have never been jobs for teens everywhere. Sure we are in a recession, but I was in my local McDonald’s yesterday and there were two teens behind the register. They were clean and had smiles on their faces. Their uniforms were properly fitted and they handled our orders with ease. However, they didn’t have the nose rings, piercings or visible tattoos, that many of today’s youth find — “fashionable.”
If teens want jobs, they have to consider that a job entails doing what the boss wants, when the boss wants, the way the boss wants it done. A job, in many ways contradicts the “free spirit,” non compete ethos we seem to be teaching in many of our schools. The fact is that many teens aren’t presentable, aren’t reliable, and have no sense of duty. But if they want to work, they can find work.
If I say “yes” to hiring more teens, am I not implicitly saying “no” to hiring adults (or maybe firing some of the ones already hired)? The problem, of course, is unemployment in general, not just with certain age groups. Naturally we still have people claiming there isn’t a job shortage, but rather a “good worker” shortage, and if everyone just looked more like Dobie Gillis and less like Maynard Krebs, then no one would be jobless…sure. While we’re at it, let’s put out the (other) usual bromide — a lowered minimum wage; nothing unreasonable, of course: the New Deal offered 10 cents/hr, but that was a long time ago, so maybe we should move that up to 25 cents….
My son was fortunate to find employment in a local branch of a regional grocery that still employs “courtesy clerks” to bag and carry out groceries to cars. They appear to be committed to this model and also wanting to hire some local faces when they came into our town (a DC suburb). They have been very understanding with scheduling, etc. That being said, he has virtually no peers at work and I think that has been tough on putting a positive spin on retail as a career or continued job choice.
I think another challenge, at least for grocery, is these types of jobs are being eliminated with cashiers bagging, etc.
On another note, I hope college admissions offices put equal value on a summer/school year job as they do on attending an enrichment program at a college, SAT boot camps, etc. I am not putting down those choices, but not everyone has the means to make that choice.
In my experience, the college-prep teens are a better *quality* hire than an adult. They absolutely require more supervision and training because they are totally new at the working world. However, I can train them the way I want them, they have fewer *issues* and the teens tend to be more reliable even if I have annual turnover when they head off to college.
The stores that should be hiring teens heavily are the ones who’s customer base skews young; simple as that.
I think work experience of most any kind during high school builds character and is a step on the path to being a good business person. However in today’s multi-channel environment, I think the skill set to be a retail executive is shifting towards the digital and the analytical. So, I don’t think that early experience “on the floor” will be a particular advantage for execs 10-20 years from now.
Stores are plenty active in hiring teens. I have several clients that love hiring teens with a lot of energy. The problem is not with teen unemployment but with unemployable teens. Retailers want to hire the Stepford Children not goth punk rockers. Believe me, if you are a teen that is good looking, has a good smile, good grades, fit, and well dressed, finding a job is no problem.
Some of this tends to be regional… and also varies by retailer. Without going into specific comments about specific chains or regions, when you look at the employee profile of swing shift staff at a grocer, or at a fast food place, depending on area, or chain, you can draw your conclusions. I think certain chains definitely try not to hire teens. I don’t want to name names but I’m thinking of the largest….
In some states, this may be due to labor laws that do not allow you to work teens past a certain time and other things like not allowing the under 18 group to operate a box compactor or a deli meat slicer.
The key for retailers now is to hire the best person — no matter the age — depending on the customer type they serve. The store team is an extension of the actual store assortment, pricing, etc. Many retailers are measured by shoppers on the total experience — product, people, price, etc.
Another group for retailers to consider are the kids back from Iraq. There are many young people just back from Iraq that need to get back into their communities. My son is one of them. He has been hunting for a job to match his degree, but has decided to apply with a large retailer that wants vets. His operations and platoon management experience will be of great value to this retailer — and they know it.
Hire a vet or the next best for the job!