Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

This summer, teens have the upper hand in the job market

People in this story

Boston Globe, May 2022

In the old days, before COVID, Emack & Bolio’s owner Bob Rook could hang a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window of one of his stores this time of year and have a teenager scooping ice cream for the summer within a couple of days. Right now? That’s “impossible,” he said. Help wanted signs hang, unanswered, for months. He recently even had to close his Charlestown store early, on a warm spring night, for lack of staff. “Usually at this time, we have more than enough people to scoop and to work,” Rook said. “But there are very few people applying.”

It’s a common complaint this spring among businesses that rely on teens for seasonal summer help. The labor market for young people to scoop ice cream, wait tables, and watch over a pool from a lifeguard chair is, like so many things, out of whack in the wake of the pandemic. Even before summer hits, teens are working in large numbers. After a sharp drop early in the pandemic, more than one-third of people aged 16 to 19 held jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the highest teen employment rate since before the Great Recession of 2008. And that’s good news for young people who want to make some extra money, with more opportunities and higher wages compared to past years.

Continue reading at the Boston Globe.

More Stories

Laurel and Scroll 100 honors outstanding graduate students for achievements aligning with the university’s mission, ideals and values. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Northeastern honors top graduate students with launch of Laurel and Scroll 100 Society

04.15.2025
Eli Curwin sits at his laptop

From City Hall to Congress, Northeastern co-op student finds his voice on Mayor Wu’s speechwriting team

04.15.2025
President Donald Trump, left, greets Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, outside the White House on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Did Donald Trump defy a Supreme Court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

04.15.25
All Stories