Market Becomes Scarce for Summer Jobs

It is actually impossible for anyone to be unaware that America is going through a recession.

This being said, it should come as no surprise to anyone that jobs are scarce. Especially for teens and young adults who have dry resumes and no connections.

This fragile position for young people will cause a halt in the student rite of passage of holding summer jobs.

In the off-season of school, many students like to spend their time working away to save money for the fall. It's a good tactic so that a student would not have to balance both school and work. However, this year will be different as massive waves of economic woes hit almost every sector of the economy.

A study released Sunday by SnagAJob.com surveyed 1,100 companies. Nearly half of those companies said that they had no plans to hire any additional seasonal workers. When asked why, around half of the companies said it was because they didn't have the budget.

On top of companies simply not having enough money to hire students over the summer, there is also much more competition in the market now. Given the economy and the massive job loss, out-of-school workers are on the hunt for anything they can get now that they have lost their once lucrative career, yet still need to pay the bills.

The fact of the matter is that managers will always hire someone with a degree over someone without one. Especially now that they have no leeway to ask for higher pay.

Students on campus seem pessimistic towards the shifting job market. Louie Soto, a one-time night watchman at a corporate headquarters recently lost his job. "Yeah no one really cares about the young people who have jobs. We're nothing, like trash. I don't know why people are surprised. It's the way of the world."

In the medical field, student Colin Calderon, shared the pessimism. "I just gotta live off my bank account and ride it out you know? Keep a little blue book, and plan out where every cent goes. As long as your organized and living in your means, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm expecting this to last for a while, so you gotta be smart with your money."

It is estimated from the Center of Labor Market Studies that only a third of job seeking students will find a job this summer. This has gone down alarmingly since 2001 when the number was 45 percent. Joseph McLaughlin, who is a research associate with the center, had this to say of the summer job market.

"Employers view adults as more responsible than teens and they don't have to worry about them going back to school," McLaughlin said.  Last year the number of unemployed citizens in the country was seven million. This year the number is eight and a half million, a dramatic increase. This can only end with out-of-school employees soaking up the rudimentary positions in the job market.

Overall, the numbers of teens working in the United States has been on the decline in the past decade, as parents from all socioeconomic groups have wanted their children to focus on academics and extracurricular activities instead of work.

This had previously been possible due to the semi-stable economy. Now that this new economic tsunami has arrived parents have begun to rely on their children to work so that they may bring home money for the family.

It seems like the student populace is just another victim of the recession. However, it's not all bad news. Every cloud has a silver lining. Don't expect lines at Starbucks, or mistakes on your check at restaurants. Boutiques will be extra helpful, and your car will never have a ding when it's parked by valet. The bartender you've been spewing all your problems to realizes you have a personality disorder before you do because he has a degree.

The service industry is about to get a massive drop of academia. Get that PhD  so that one day you'll get minimum wage