Summer Hiring of Teens in Oregon

Summer break from school has traditionally meant a summer job. A generation ago, more than half of all teenagers had a job or were looking for one. The summer work scene has changed a lot since then. Now only one out of three teenagers has a job or is looking for one. Many teens are purposely skipping the dough and early work experience in order to focus on formal education and school activities.

A few years ago, teens who wanted to work faced stiff competition for jobs by adults who were out of work. Adults tend to have more experience, flexible schedules, and fewer restrictions on their activities and the hours they can work. It’s natural for many employers to prefer hiring adults when they are available, rather than hiring teens. However, Oregon’s record-low unemployment means there are fewer adults looking for jobs, so employers have turned to hiring teens again.

In summer 2016, more than 33,000 teens age 14 to 18 found jobs at an employer they hadn’t worked for within the last year. That was far more than the number of teens finding work during the summers following the Great Recession, so it’s much easier for teens to find jobs now than it was a few years ago. Still, far fewer teens were hired last summer than in 2006 when 45,000 teens were hired, or the chart-topping summer of 1996 when nearly 63,000 teens found new jobs.

Learn more about teens in the workforce in "Summer Hiring of Teens in Oregon" written by State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks.