The labor market has a teeny problem

Your angry neighbor may have a tough time finding a teenage service worker to scream at this summer. That’s because teen employment is on pace for its lowest level in decades.

It’s not just because teenagers are busy with extracurricular activities and social media—summer jobs are getting as hard to find as lightning bugs. Outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects:

• Teens will be hired for 790,000 jobs in May, June, and July this year.
• That’s down from 801,000 jobs last summer and 1,077,000 jobs in 2024.

Where’d the jobs go? Some are disappearing because of AI-driven automation, while others are being taken by older workers, who’ve increasingly put off retirement, the agency said. But hiring in the teen-filled entertainment and leisure sector (theme parks, hotels, activity centers, etc.) is also down 70% from last year, due to higher costs from inflation and gas prices, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

It’s not all bad: If a teen wants to be like Wendy Peffercorn, lifeguard job postings are up 78% this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Indeed. And more teens are landing in retail, workforce platform Revelio Labs’ data shows, according to Barron’s.

Meal ticket: Teens are also finding work via Uber and DoorDash. Workers aged 17 to 25 are the fastest-growing age group on gig-work apps, and Gen Z registrations are up 8.4% year over year, according to mobile app researcher Apptopia.—BC