Summer Jobs for Teens Expected to Fall. Where Can They Still Find Work?

School is almost out for teenagers across the country, and those hoping to land a summer job may have a tough time finding one.

Last summer, teen hiring fell to its lowest level in nearly eight decades of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and forecasters predict it could be even lower this summer. A Challenger, Gray & Christmas report predicts American teens will gain 790,000 jobs across May, June, and July, down from 801,000 last summer.

Last month, 5.193 million workers between the ages of 16 and 19 were employed, down from 5.487 million in April last year, according to BLS data.

“With fewer teens already on payrolls heading into the busiest hiring months, the runway for a strong summer is narrower than it has been in years,” the report said.

Why Are Teen Hiring Expectations Low?

Teens are facing the same challenging low-hire environment as adult job seekers. While U.S. employers added well over 100,000 jobs in March and April, hiring remains concentrated in select sectors like health care and social assistance — industries not typically known for employing high schoolers.

A few factors are contributing to this low-hire environment. The Challenger report identifies four: rising inflation and oil prices pushing up costs for businesses; self-checkout and automation replacing cashier and customer service roles; competition from older workers seeking out similar jobs; and a smaller teen labor force participation rate.

It notes that while the rate was near 50% in the 1970s and ’80s, today it’s 33.8%, as teens pursue sports, academic programs, and other summer opportunities instead.

Brad Sugars, a business coach and founder of ActionCOACH, added that as entry-level opportunities decline for recent college graduates, teenagers are also competing with them.

“That college graduate that would have gone and got the full-time job is now going back into that part-time market,” Sugars said.

How Do Broad Economic Trends Affect Teen Hiring?

Kory Kantenga, head of economics for the Americas at LinkedIn, explained how high gas prices may affect a teenager’s ability to land a job at their local grocer.

“You need to get new deliveries of bread, of fruit, of vegetables, and in order to get those deliveries, often they have to be driven on a truck,” he said. As fuel prices rise, businesses need to make up for those higher delivery costs somewhere. “Where do folks cut? They cut in areas where they feel like they can have a little bit more flexibility, and that’s often younger workers.”

And businesses are contending with more than just rising input costs.

“Everything in the economy is connected to everything else,” Indeed Senior Economist Cory Stahl said, adding if people are spending more on gas, they may pull back spending at their local ice cream shop. “As a business you look at that and say, ‘That’s really concerning. We’re not sure if we should hire at the same capacity.’”

Are There Still Job Opportunities for Teens?

Hiring trends vary by region, and teens may find more opportunities in tighter labor markets. Nationally, there are a few bright spots.

Employment platforms are seeing increased demand for lifeguards amid a years-long national shortage. Kantenga said this year there also appears to be a growing need for shelf stockers, camp counselors, and restaurant hosts and servers.

“There’s likely to be some opportunities still within retail and hospitality,” Kantenga said. “They’re just going to be a bit more targeted, so it’s important to know, ‘I may not necessarily be able to get that summer assistant manager training role, but maybe that host role is still available.’”

The Challenger report included some tips for teens trying to land a summer role. It advises they start looking now, as June is the most popular month for teen hiring, tap their friends and families for opportunities, keep their online presence clean, and polish their resumes.

“[College] grads who had any work experience on their resume were more than twice as likely to land a job after graduation within three months than their peers who didn’t,” ZipRecruiter Economist Nicole Bachaud said, adding even first-time job seekers should highlight any work experience they have. “A babysitting gig, or if you planned a garage sale for your neighborhood, or anything that can really show organization and communication — those skills that employers are really looking for.”

Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected] or follow her on X @rachelbarber_.