[Tarantulas]

(my bold in the above article) The kids where I grew up used to pick crops and work in the cannery during the summer to earn money for school clothes. I don't know what they do these days. The reason I posted this was because of an NBC News segment this evening talking about Detroit kids unable to find summer jobs. They didn't say how many construction jobs were unavailable because they were being filled by illegals.

Other articles about summer jobs referenced on MSNBC:

Summer job time
Low unemployment rate boosts summer jobs in Quincy area.

Fewer jobs for teens this summer - Unemployed less prepared for real world, report says
The scarcity of summer jobs for young people in King County and across the country has reached a crisis level, according to a report on youth employment released Thursday.

Teens seeking work face fierce competition
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. By Martin Wolk.

Teen Job Market Warming Up This Summer
The summer job scene for area teens is brighter this year than in recent summers, when the employment market was so weak that teens had to compete with many adults for jobs, experts said.

Attention teens: In search of a summer job?
The good news is, it's not too late to get one. Jeff Allen, founder of SummerJobs.com, says there are still jobs out there. He offers some tips to help you get your search in gear.

Summer youth employment
School is almost out and you know what that means; time for teens to land those summer jobs.

[Betaille]

They took our jobs! (South Park reference)

[OldFriend]

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH MINIMUM WAGE

[jocon307]

Well illegals or no illegals my kid better find a summer job!

[SunnyD1182]

It's not just about immigration or illegal immigration. It's about free trade/outsourcing policies gone overboard, which have decimated this entire economy to the point where people who once worked in skill positions are now fighting for these service jobs that high schoolers once used to take. It's all part of a giant chain reaction.

And we have our own economic policies to blame for it.

[pharmamom]

We looked for a summer-only nanny for our 3 boys, and we were inundated with resumes from recent graduates with teaching degrees...unable to find a teaching position, so ready to settle for $400 a week watching kids (and okay, tutoring my autistic middle son). We had young women in their mid-20s literally begging us to hire them.

[McLynnan]

My 18 year old daughter has been looing for a job for two months with no luck. This girl is a National Merit Finalist, well mannered, attractive, and fluent in Spanish (we're in Texas). As soon as prospective employers learn she'll be leaving for college in August she's shown the door. Same thing is happening with her friends. Nobody here wants to train and hire for summer help -- they want permanent employees. She's applied at every restaurant in town, WalMart, grocery stores, retail, etc. The temporary agencies don't seem to have any listings that don't require some experience. Meanwhile she's picking up some spending money babysitting.

[Radix]

I actually went to McDonald's this morning on my way to where I was going.

I ordered a medium coffee black with no sugar.

"That is a coffee with no sugar?"

I said BLACK with no sugar.

" Do you want cream with that coffee?"

I still could not place the accent.

I ended up with a large coffee at the price of a regular. Later I learned that they charge the same price for coffee no matter what size you order. Perhaps it makes it easier for them to make change for the occasional drive by coffee orderer.

[Ciexyz]

One fast food place in my area has only young people working the counters. No worker over thirty in sight. Even the manager looks younger than thirty. Talk about age discrimination.

[speekinout]

How far are teens willing to go for jobs these days? When I was a teen, teens went to farms to work day labor, or to resort areas to work as maids, busboys, waiters or waitresses, and for the lucky ones, lifeguards.
Teens who wanted to stay home mowed lawns, babysat, whatever.

I don't see teens going after those jobs these days. I see more of them looking for internships in office situations.
Seasonal jobs have never been attractive to adult Americans. I find it hard to believe that the problem for teens is illegals. I think it's just as likely that the teens don't want these jobs.

[bill1952]

can't find work in their fields due to the sluggish economy.

What utter trash. Our economy is the envy of most of the world, including the EU types.

Low interest rates, housing boom, DJI over the 10,000 mark year after year, and an unemployment rate at a fraction of EU "powerhouses" such as France and Germany.

That they can't find work just might be due to the 10 million+ illegals?

After all, in this "sluggish" economy are millions of American workers fleeing to Mexico and Canada for jobs?

[memories]

I note that the very media that has for years encouraged and aided illegal aliens is now starting to wring their hands at the results. Liberals should heed the saying, those who benefit eventually replace their benefactors. Los Angeles is a shining example.

[SpaceBar]

There is obviously only one way to solve this problem. Drug test the kids, and give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

[Drew68]

Compounding the job shortage, the report says, more students than ever are dropping out of high school

I think this is a bigger issue here. High school dropouts tend to not be highly valued employees. I mean, if you can't finish high school, what *can* you do? Don't drop out of high school and then come crying that you can't find a job! High school dropouts enjoy no competitive advantages in the job marketplace whatsoever.

[hardworking]

Our employees are all legal and I won't touch a white kid with a ten foot pole! I tried that and they can barely wipe their *%*% without needing someone to help them. Frankly, our experience has been that if you need to have a solid day's work doing steady repetitive things, forget anyone with a so-called education from our schools, hire a LEGAL immigrant and then ask them to refer their LEGAL friends - they're glad to have the work!

[4mycountry]

"Those first jobs really shape us,'' Stadelman said. "It helped us decide what we were good at; what we hated; and that school was more important than we thought. You find out the rules of work: show up on time, be respectful, and to work as a team.''

I'm doing my very first job this year, working as a councelor-in-training at Camp Summit. I'm a teenager (15), and a job as important as this really does make you mature. :)