Seasonal adjustments: Teens landing more summer jobs

IOWA CITY — Regina High School sophomore Sara Burlage has been working a handful of hours as a certified lifeguard in Iowa City since she was hired a little more than a month ago.

Once school lets out, the 16-year-old plans to ramp up her hours significantly.

'Right now if I can, I try to work maybe four to 10 hours over the weekend. Once summer hits I'll probably be working more like 20 to 30 per week,' she said.

Burlage is not alone. According to the latest annual teen summer job outlook report from global consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, employment among 16- to 19-year-olds in March was the highest non-summer level it's been in the past six years.

Nearly 4.5 million teens were employed nationwide in March, making for the highest March employment since 2009. At the same time, unemployment for the same age group was 17 percent, compared to 29 percent in 2010.

That number is expected to increase significantly through July as schools let out and seasonal job opportunities increase, according to the report.

'Heading into the summer, we're already starting out on stronger footing in terms of teen employment,' said James Pedderson, spokesman with Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 'We think conditions are better for teens who want jobs. ...

Even in the weakest economies, we had teens finding jobs.'

According to an August 2014 report on youth employment — for ages 16 to 24 — from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employed youth increased by 2.1 million, to 20.1 million, from April to July of that year.

Rising unemployment following the 2009 economic downturn forced many adults to take whatever jobs were available — many of which included seasonal jobs more traditionally held by teens, Pedderson said.

With the country climbing out of the recession and more jobs opening up, teens are seeing more employment options.

'Now that the economy is improving, we're seeing hiring going up in many regions of the country, people who were stuck in these lower skilled, lower paid jobs are leaving a void for teens to fill,' Pedderson said.

Seasonal job openings in Iowa City's Parks and Recreation department, for example, nearly triple to roughly 300 temporary positions in the summer months.

Chad Dyson, Iowa City's superintendent of recreation, said while he is always trying to find more teenaged employees to work as lifeguards or supervise day camps or sporting events, less than 10 percent of summer employees end up falling in the 16- to 19-year-old range.

With the University of Iowa in town, many applicants are college students, he said.

'I haven't gotten a really good idea as to why it is, but we don't typically get much from the juniors (or) seniors in high school,' Dyson said. 'We really don't see whole lot of high school applicants come through our doors, and we have the jobs.'

That trend also is reflected in the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report. While job opportunities climb in the summer, the number of teenagers actually seeking employment has been trending down since the late 1970s.

According to non-seasonally adjusted data from the BLS, the participation rate among 16- to 19-year-olds in the job market was close to 50 percent. Last year it was below 35 percent.

Repeat employment

But that's not to say teens are getting lazier, Pedderson said, adding that the more youth are taking advantage of summer-education programs or extracurricular activities.

The misconception could be that employers aren't hiring or that summer jobs aren't important, Pedderson said.

'I think there's a perception that working your hourly wage job at a fast-food restaurant or amusement park is not going to help them get into college or careers down the line,' he said. 'Doing any job and having responsibilities and meeting goals, all of those things are the foundation for every job down the road, that's why it's so valuable.'

For Burlage, the original incentive to get a part-time job — she first worked at Cate's Frozen Yogurt on Rochester Avenue when she was 14 years old — was to get enough money for a car. But now her sights are set on saving up for college.

The paycheck aside, Burlage noted how important a few hours of work each week have been for her.

'Working at the yogurt shop and even now lifeguarding, I've become more confident in talking with people and just explaining things,' she said. 'There are more responsibilities that I've been handed with these jobs.'

For employers such as Dyson, younger, local applicants allow for repeat employment and cut down on training and orientation costs.

'It would be a refreshing change if we could get more of the local kids who are of that 16-, 17-, 18-year range to come work for us. We certainly have the need and positions available,' he said.

'We always try to get kids who will be with us for four to six years, or multiple years at the very least.'

Brian Mildenstein, with Iowa City's Fin & Feather, who also operates concessions and boat rental at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area south of town, said he hopes to have about 16 temporary employees out at the lake this summer, serving ice cream, manning concessions and renting canoes and paddle boards.

As with Dyson's dilemma, Mildenstein also noted the added challenge of constantly replacing departing employees. But he said that local teenagers are ready and willing to work and make up a good portion of his work force.

'From my standpoint, that's challenging because I have to kind of start over every spring. But I have not had any trouble finding enough teens,' he said.

'Who doesn't want to be outside all summer and have access to ice cream?'