What Gen Z’s doing (and not doing) for work this summer
And why that matters
It’s no secret that the job market for Gen Z is bleak. That’s true for recent high school and college grads looking for entry-level work. But it’s also increasingly the case for students looking for summer opportunities to make some cash and stack their pre-professional resume.
Some data
Summer hiring for teens is expected to fall (from 801,000 teen jobs gained last summer to 790,000 this summer, according to a report from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas) — after last year’s eight decade low
That would be the worst summer hiring total for teens since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping track in 1948
And a Business Insider piece explored a rise in young people looking for extra work in the gig economy; i.e. taking shifts on apps like Uber or GoPuff.
To learn more about this summer’s tricky job market, we asked young adults in our Gen Z community about their summer plans.
Their replies ran the gambit, from retail to lifegaurding, waitressing, corporate internships, and even a school teacher taking on extra work in the summer as a “mosquito sprayer.” And we did have a few tell us they had experimented with platforms like Instacart “to have some money.”
The through line was that those without a job weren’t in that situation from a lack of trying. But the reality of a summer without work is affecting their finances and their own sense of self-confidence.
Here’s some of what we heard:
“I am working as a waitress at two separate establishments,” said a 20-year-old college student in Pennsylvania.
“Working part-time at a movie theater, working part-time at a local congressional campaign,” said an 18-year-old student in Arizona.
“Full time camp counselor,” said an 18-year-old in Arkansas.
“I don’t have a job yet. I am applying to many (ice cream shop, bakery, restaurants, tennis coach, tutor),” said a 16-year-old in the California Bay Area.
“I do not have a job this summer, rather I am spending my time traveling,” said a 20-year-old student from Pennsylvania, who also said the most recent situation she felt least confident was when is is “applying for jobs that I may not have the proper experience for and feeling like I am behind in life.”
“No,” said an 18-year-old in Arizona, who also said his biggest financial pinch is tuition.
“I don’t have a job this summer,” said a 19-year-old student in Miami, Florida, who also shared that gas and food prices are a financial concern.
Beyond the obvious financial strain and emotional toll — a tale that many will say is as old as time — the job market is increasingly becoming a political issue for potential young voters.
Asked the biggest political issue leading up to the midterms, the 20-year-old from Pennsylvania who’s waitressing at two separate restaurants said: “The cost of everything, people can’t find jobs, can’t afford housing, and can’t afford to put food on the table.”
The Up and Up’s take
Summer jobs are a right of passage — one that boosts confidence, cultivates independence, and builds resiliency. They also, of course, help students save up for college or pay their way through it. In arming fewer young adults with these opportunities, we’re not only bleeding that professional experience, but cultivating frustration from members of a generation desperately searching for it.
Noteworthy Reads
Gen Z’s Great Retreat from Risk, Arthur Brooks for The Free Press
New College Grads Are Doing Better Than the Vibes Suggest, Bryan Walsh for Vox
Gen Z Singles are trying to make solomaxxing aspirational, Jason Parham for Wired
The hippest new members club in New York is a ‘grandma gaming’ salon — that charges $2.5K a year, Kyra Breslin for The New York Post