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Help
me find a job!
By: Nina Munizaga
It's hard enough for teenagers to find jobs and now competition from
more-qualified adults for that minimum-wage job at Banana Republic
or Virgin Megastore is pushing young potentials to the bottom of employers'
lists. And the weak U.S. economy isn't helping: State governments
have cut programs that used funds to help teenagers find work.
According to the
Department of Labor, unemployment, in general, is at a nine year high
and about 25% of the nine million unemployed Americans have been out
of work for over six months. As a result, teenagers have faced the
worst job market in years. Those who were lucky and have jobs, make
up the lowest percentage of employed teens since 1948 - that's
the lowest in 55 years!
Normally, teenagers
have been able to find jobs in retail stores, but recently, big chains
(like Home Depot) are refusing to hire younger employees. Renee Ward,
President of Teens4Hire.org, an Internet job board for teenagers,
said most of the 1,300 retailers who have posted jobs on the site
in the past few years specifically noted they would not hire teenagers
under 18 this past summer.
Hearing the phrase
"we'll call you" one too many times has made kids opt for
summer school instead of summer work.
"I cleaned up my appearance, hoping it would help and instead
I sit by the phone waiting for a call," said Rudy Santiago, a
17-year old senior at G. Holmes Braddock high school. "The guy
had a stack of applications in his hands. It wasn't fair game."
For those who have
work, the pay is terrible and often work is on a part-time or internship
basis. Sixteen-year-old Julia Suttle, who usually worked as a dance
teacher for the summer program at Just Dance It! in Kendall,
has been unemployed since June.
"Every week
I tell myself 'I'll have a job by this time next week,'" Suttle
said. "Now, school just started and I haven't even received any
call backs."
Alina Viera, who
recently arrived in Miami from Cuba, works a full-time minimum wage
job at McDonald's.
"I know I'm lucky to have work, but it's not fair for others
who are American and get the same pay as I do," said Viera. "The
only reason they have a job is because they were willing to work for
practically nothing."
With older workers
returning to the job market, laid-off workers settling for lower paying
jobs, college students hanging on to jobs that used to go to high
school students, and an economy unable to remedy the situation, the
youngest workers are being squeezed out. For these unemployed neophytes,
the want is there but the opportunities aren't.
"I just don't
think it's fair that younger workers are being pushed to the back
of the line," said Santiago. "We're not even being given
a chance. It's like we're second-class citizens when it comes to jobs."
Not giving up hope?
Check out these job-search engines:
www.hotjobs.com
www.monstertrak.com
www.careerbuilder.com
http://teensforhire.org
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