Teens seeking summer jobs find they've gone to older workers & immigrants

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Teens seeking work face fierce competition
Older workers, immigrants taking many entry-level jobs

By Martin Wolk

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8076613/

Like most things in life, finding a summer job is a bit more complicated than it used to be.

No longer is it a simple matter of walking into the neighborhood drug store and asking the pharmacist if he needs some help in the stock room. If the store has not been run out of business entirely by a nearby supercenter, it probably is owned by a national chain that may only accept applications at central headquarters. And the company may not want to bother with inexperienced teenagers looking for short-term employment.

For teens, the competition can be fierce. In the aftermath of the dot-com bust, millions of older workers have come out of retirement or simply stayed in the work force. In many states immigrants are a huge factor in seeking entry-level jobs that might have gone to teens in the past. And slow job growth since the recession ended in 2001 has forced many college graduates to take temporary jobs at retail stores, restaurants and call centers.

While the economy has added more than 3 million jobs over the past 18 months, teens are likely to have a tough time finding work this summer, experts say. “Teens are having a much harder time getting work,” said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Not just in summer but year-round. … That is partly a new phenomenon. There is something structural going on in the labor market that has made it a lot harder for kids to find work.”

[caligirl]

1. common problem in the bay area. worse with layoffs in sili valley.

35 year old college grads with high paying jobs layed off. Now working at Home depot. Chemical engineer helped me out at HD not long ago, layed off. Teens compete with older workers for burger jobs.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. It's horrible

:( And yet Bush and his ilk have the right to say everything is going fine. :mad:

[Ouabache]

16. not only is everything fine, it's a MIRACLE

according to that new Cox guy *blivet has appointed to fill the SEC post. He said today that an economic miracle is happening right now. I guess it would be a miracle if you could steal & rob ordinary people blind, and still hold the government and get promotions.

[dejaboutique]

2. oh the glory days

I detassled corn from the age of 13-17 while in highschool. Loved it. I think I was paid almost 10/hour and that was 15 years ago. The WORST thing about this is that Teenagers throw their money right back into the economy. They are one of the biggest spending groups we have. You cant tell me that the economy hasnt taken a small hit from giving common teenage jobs to immigrants that hoard money and send it back to their country of origin. flame me if you want.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. Oh you're right

I remember being younger and spending my allowance on dvd's and cd's. I'd go to the local music store so much it was driving my parents bonkers. It seemed like every couple weeks there was a new cd to buy. Now days I'm much better with money and I use money on dvd's and cd's every once in a while. Now other items are clothes, makeup and other items like that. But when I was 13-18 I bought tons of stuff and went to the mall alot of Friday night's with friends and to the movies. Not so much anymore. Although somedays I miss it. ;)

[HockeyMom]

5. Daughter had that problem

both during the summer and the school year. She goes away to college. During the school year, they didn't want to hire her part time because she would be going home on breaks and for the summer. During the summer they didn't want to hire her cause she would be doing away to college in the Fall.

They hire housewives and seniors part time who will work all year.

[dejaboutique]

6. my dad is one of those older people

he is 62 now and sold his business and wants to retire doing just low end things that keep him busy. He has looked around at landscaping companies to just do clean up and he is shocked, says he would not be able to converse with co-workers because they all speak spanish. That is just crap that he worked his ass off in this country and paid exhorbant amount of taxes and when he wants to retire and get a small job that keeps him fit and active he can't because those places are only hiring immigrants. I think a lot of older people are out there trying to get jobs to keep going and not waste away and this is how good ol america rewards all their years of work. My dad retired well but needs to keep a small income coming in and he knows a lot out there like him. I dont see how they are going to compete with young immigrant workers. I noticed this phenomenon in the midwest about 5 years ago. My friend and I went to pull up at a dairy queen in the summer and we were like "where are all the local high school kids?" it was 60% mexican. I am so sick of hearing this crap about immigrants "They do the jobs Americans dont want to do" that is bull because work is work. I detassled corn from 6am - 4pm in hot hot weather and loved every moment that I could make money and then go spend it right back into the community. I am ranting but give me a freakin break!! This is why I watch Lou Dobbs every night. I am sick of it.

[oscar111]

9. JOBS FOR ALL website, GALBRAITH advises it, acedemics abound as advisors

also clinton's Sec of Labor, is advisor.. Reich.

this is a serious site.

Jobs for all Council sees one hundred percent employment as the goal.

WPA, co-ops, share-the-work {as begun in france} can do it.

see my sig below for a link

they have good fact sheets {forget what they are called there}. Try the links at left on homepage

[walldude]

18. So are you ok with jobs going to

english speaking immigrants? Or is it just Mexicans you are pissed at?

[dejaboutique]

19. everyone

I am pissed at everybody.

[bleedingheart]

33. you realize this is not a new phenomena?

my grandfather came from Croatia to work in the mines of Pennsylvania and he got a job immediately because he was desparate and willing to work for a $1 a day and he worked 16 hour days.

I am quite sure there were other people who were around at that time here in this country that were born here but didn't want to do that work for that low of a wage.....

When my grandfather wised up after a few years and joined the union to fight for better wages and a 40 hour work week...he found himself black listed. Meanwhile the coal robber barons lived in palatial homes and took European tours.....

[SoCalDem]

7. That same article could just be recycled every year

at least for the last 4 ..

[kittenpants]

23. I actually DID see that same article the past 2 summers.

I was looking for work too.

[samos1016]

8. I am currently

working at a part time job that is perfect for a high schooler: at a dry cleaners. However, I am in college in Charlotte, NC and good jobs are hard to find. I have to work 30 minutes from where I live to work this job. I actually worked at a different dry cleaners in high school and made the same an hour then (4yrs.ago) as I do now. I am currently trying to find new employment.

[skygazer]

10. The job market sucks

My husband is a carpenter - he got laid off last month and is collecting unemployment while he looks for work which is damn hard to find in a field that it never used to be hard in. He has to go get on the out of work list at the union hall every two weeks - at his local alone, there are 28 apprentices and 54 journeyman carpenters on the list. The list is not moving.

Anyone who says the economy is in good shape is living in a dream world.

[Blue Diadem]

11. I'm seeing many older workers

in fast food, grocery store, and dept store jobs. I was in a store the other day and as I scanned the checkouts..all I saw were graying heads of hair and many of them were men, new faces from the last time I was there. These were jobs that were normally filled by the kids, college kids or women.

I can't begin to imagine what the teens and college kids are going to do. My future dil was just told she no longer has a job due to an ownership change at her work. She was only part-time but it was money that paid for her gas, insurance and car while she's getting her masters.

[oscar111]

12. LEGAL RIGHT TO A JOB - UN CHARTER WE SIGNED

see my sig below See Jobs for All link It is at the site, mentioned in one of the little articles, links at the left on homepage

As a signatory to the un charter, the rights of man in the charter apply as the supreme law of our land.

I think the site's little article on this is called something like

Supreme Law of the land = you have a right to a job.

OK i have it now..
UNCOMMON SENSE at left homepage.. David Gil wrote the one you want.

[dejaboutique]

13. can you explain more

can you explain more, not sure what it is?

[oscar111]

14. UN - RIGHT TO A JOB

Article 55:

... the United Nations shall promote: (A) Higher standards of living,

FULL EMPLOYMENT

and conditions of economic and social progress and development...

==================================
from the site linked in my sig, homepage, at left the link UNCOMMON SENSE, no. six by Gil
==================================

by David G. Gil, Professor of Social Policy Brandeis University 
===============================
US constitution and UN charter:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States

which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all

Treaties made,

or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the

Supreme Law of the Land;

and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby...." (Article VI, U.S. Constitution)
==================================
Fifty years ago, in 1945, the United States signed and ratified the Charter of the United Nations.

Ratification made the Charter a treaty binding on the United States, and thereby an integral part of the "Supreme Law of the Land,".

In its prescriptions for the employment practices among its signatories, the Charter is clear and unambiguous. Articles 55 and 56 of Chapter IX pledge member states to action.
{full text, at end below}

snip

snip
Today joblessness has spread throughout all societies, and alarm about the social destructiveness of

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
involuntary unemployment
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
snip
 ______________________________
1. Article 55: With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being ... the United Nations shall promote: (A) Higher standards of living,

FULL EMPLOYMENT

and conditions of economic and social progress and development; (B) Solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems ...(C) Universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

Article 56: All members pledge themselves to

take joint and separate action

in cooperation with the organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55. "

[oscar111]

15. so has the US taken action to promote full employment?

hardly.

but it should be held to its supreme law. The UN charter says it is obligated to do so.. we signed it.

steps:

1 no use of the Fed interest rate to slow job growth {currently, Fed rate is main method to slow industry borrowing.. hi rates, borrowing less attractive.. slows industry borrowing for new factories, which ends any new jobs}

2 WPA .. the second main method to insure full employment. Doesnt cost a penny. Jobless are unharnessed labor power. WPA harnesses it, .. result is wealth produced that was not there before. No cost. It pays.

3 co-ops

4 share-the-work... french trying it. Just decrease std work week to 35 hours, and the undone work is assigned to new hires. Law would stipulate no wage cut to those with shorter hours/wk. The work is just shared among more folks.. ensuring all have food and shelter. Ending hunger and homelessness.

what could be better?

[oscar111]

17. "Recommend for GREATEST PAGE" button, bott of orig post

pls recommend for greatest page. i did.

[phylny]

20. Our daughter came home from college, went to two temp agencies,

took their tests, and later that day got a call for a job she took for 6-8 weeks in an office, 8:30 - 4 p.m., $10/hour. She feels fortunate, and is very happy.

At the end of the 6-8 weeks, the agency said they'll find another one for her to finish out the summer.

[oscar111]

25. one case is not the BIG PICTURE

one needs surveys for that.

a gifted individual can rise when the bulk of a population is heavily prevented from rising.

an athletic genius with photographic memory,... or those with some of all that... will rise easily.

most of us will not.

[phylny]

29. Well, I sure didn't think she was representative of the population,

just offering our experience.

[Lannes]

21. Bob Herbert wrote about this a year ago

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/opinion/23herb.html?ex=1117857600&en=3ada71b219901955&ei=5070&hp&oref=login&oref=login

An exerpt:

Who's Getting the New Jobs?
By BOB HERBERT
Op-Ed Columnist
New York Times July 23, 2004

A startling new study shows that all of the growth in the employed population in the United States over the past few years can be attributed to recently arrived immigrants.

The study found that from the beginning of 2001 through the first four months of 2004, the number of new immigrants who found work in the U.S. was 2.06 million, while the number of native-born and longer-term immigrant workers declined by more than 1.3 million.

The study, from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, is further confirmation that despite the recovery from the recession of 2001, American families are still struggling with serious issues of joblessness and underemployment.

The study does not mean that native-born workers and long-term immigrants are not finding jobs. The American workplace is a vast, dynamic, highly competitive arena, with endless ebbs and flows of employment. But as the study tallied the gains and losses since the end of 2000, it found that new immigrants acquired as many jobs as the other two groups lost, and then some.

Andrew Sum, the director of the center and lead author of the study, said he hoped his findings would spark a long-needed analysis of employment and immigration policies in the U.S. But he warned against using the statistics for immigrant-bashing.

"We need a serious, honest debate about where we are today with regard to labor markets," said Professor Sum, whose work has frequently cited the important contributions immigrants have made. The starkness of the study's findings, he said, is an indication that right now "there is something wrong."

The study found that the new immigrants entering the labor force were mostly male and "quite young," with more than one-fourth under the age of 25, and 70 percent under 35.

"Hispanics formed the dominant group of new immigrants," the study said, "with migrants from Mexico and Central America playing key roles. Slightly under 56 percent of the new immigrant workers were Hispanic, nearly another one-fifth were Asian, 18 percent were white, not-Hispanic, and 5 percent were black."

Those most affected by the influx of new immigrant workers are young, less well-educated American workers and so-called established immigrants, those who have been in the U.S. for a number of years.

[dejaboutique]

22. that is just wrong

this just doesn't make sense:

snipet-
"The study found that from the beginning of 2001 through the first four months of 2004, the number of new immigrants who found work in the U.S. was 2.06 million, while the number of native-born and longer-term immigrant workers declined by more than 1.3 million."

sorry I am a baby but that is just not right!

[oscar111]

24. seems ending all immigration would help

to end our jobless problem.

have not thought about it before, this is just off the top of my head.

perhaps you can change my mind.

For sure, in a related topic, we must control the borders to stop terrorist entry.

[Lannes]

27. I guess we shouldnt listen to that freeper Bob Herbert huh?

Most of the time posters are anxious to post his op-ed pieces but he writes something that raises some interesting points and statistics that challenges something you may believe and all of a sudden he is a "minuteman".His statistics are all wrong.

Please show me where he advocates closing the border to legal immigration.He doesnt advocate it and neither do I.

[oscar111]

31. dont know of any bob herbert: just my musings

esteemed fellow DU'er, i didnt get the idea from hebert.

just my off the top opi9nion in this topic, which i admit i am new to.

today it seems to me, closing all immigration would help our unemp. rate . Open mind, feel free to persuade me, old pal.

not flaming you, just disagreeing politely.

[Moderator]

30. Lannes

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[area51]

26. "There is something structural going on..."

"There is something structural going on in the labor market that has made it a lot harder for kids to find work."

There's something structural going on making it a lot harder for everyone to find work -- it's called a recession (or if you will, a depression).

-------------
"Prosperity is just around the corner." — Herbert Hoover
"The economy has turned a corner." — GW Bush

Herbert Hoover = GW Bush

Neither man cared about the Depression their economic policies created.

[dejaboutique]

28. sure legal is fine

legal entry is fine but there should be a cap, like 5K a year

[oscar111]

32. why any immi at all, till every american has a good job?

more i think about it, the more sense this makes.

short of jobs, dont bring in more till we fix the shortage//

14 million is a big shortage. See my sig below for gov stats .

[AndreaCG]

34. What is the real problem

is outsourcing of jobs.