06/10/08

When it comes to summer jobs, the Idaho Department of Labor doesn't see a lot of postings for jobs aimed at high school students. That means teenagers have to resort to other means of finding summer work.

Regional Economist Jan Roeser says, "What we're looking at with the teens is more of a word of mouth kind of advertising. They typically get something through their network of friends, family, relations, something like that."

Roeser says when it comes to fast food restaurants, they don't seem to be hiring as many teenagers as they used to but somewhat older workers are more common these days. She says that may be because of child and youth rules that have to be enforced now.

Roeser says, "Kids under the age of 16 cannot be working with any hazardous type of equipment, any type of power tools. Even the fryers in some of the fast food restaurants, really they shouldn't be operating at all."

Roeser also says college students usually have more skills when it comes to actually working. She says that if those students can get jobs in retail or electronics stores - they can often get discounts on things like clothing and compact discs - which teens and young adults tend to buy anyway.