Teen Unemployment Rates Increase. My Experience and Reaction

Article from Seattle Pi

Teens will find it harder to find work because of a number of factors.

There’s the economy, of course. Nearly half (49 percent) of hiring managers at companies providing traditional hourly employment such as retailers and restaurants reported that they weren’t planning on adding any new seasonal workers in 2008, a consequence of the uncertain economy, according to a survey of more than 1,000 summer employers by SnagAJob.com, an online source of hourly jobs.

Teens looking for work will also find a lot of competition. Recently laid-off workers and college graduates are grabbing some of the jobs that would have gone to teens.

Unfortunately, my friends and I have found nothing but the truth in this article. To be honest, I was hesitant to even start my job search for the summer, but I did start reluctantly filling out applications over a month ago. I applied to EVERY chain store on Rt. 2, including Target, Guitar Center, Newbury Comics, DSW, PetCo, Pets’Mart, Daddy’s Junky Music, Best Buy and FYE. Not to mention I applied to many small shops and even my private beach club. I got a response about a month ago from Guitar Center saying they would call me back for an interview, but they never did. The same thing is currently happening with the beach club.

Now as lazy and unmotivated as it sounds, I really don’t care if I don’t get a job this summer. I thoroughly enjoy sitting at home all day brushing up on my guitar, writing, eating and television-watching skills, and then hanging out with some friends at night. To me, that is what summer vacation is all about, but alas, I need money to use my car, buy food, and pay my cell bill; not to mention support my weed habit.  I’ve found ways to make it by, and I still have a about two hundred bucks to try and spread out, but with gas over $4 a gallon, that money will last about, well, not even 4 fill-ups at the station.

I guess it’s not the biggest dilemma in the world, but it is evident that our economy is collapsing. Today, my state’s newspaper headline was something along the lines of how our state is one of the many in a recession; while national headlines have lately been involving unemployment rates and stock market crashing.