Part time jobs during summer breaks seem to be less popular in contrast to the past, when students did their best to find a good place to earn some bucks on holidays. According to the recent researches, the number of 17-year olds getting a job during summer breaks has halved in the last two decades.
Hard to Get a Foot in the Door
The experts of the IPPR (the Institute for Public Policy Research) inform that while the university fees rising could make young people concentrate on their academic progress, the majority of employers require staff with previous professional experience for the part-time positions, thus, depriving students of a range of options easily accessible 20 years ago. The IPPR specialists called on the universities, schools and governments to help youngsters in acquiring professional experience that would cultivate the skills required by the employers.
Contrasts from the Past
The research conducted on the 17-year-olds engaged in both full-time studying and part-time job has halved in contrast to 20 years ago. At the same time, the number of 18-24-year-olds has dropped by almost a fifth. Twenty years ago, over 40% of 17-year-olds had a summer part-time job. Experts say it was crucial to have a summer part-time job in order to get to know the world of grown-ups and employment better. The research proved that without work experience, it’s not easy to show off the soft skills recruiters are on the lookout for. However, right after the recession that happened in 2009, up to 23% of youngsters with no prior experience were unemployed, in contrast to 14% with professional experience. The researchers also insist that education and work can be highly useful for students, who wish to boost skills needed for their future career, as well as to smoothly switch from college to work. But the reality is – the opportunities available nowadays are not enough.
Lack of Flexible Part-Time Job Opportunities
As said by the IPPR spokesman, not every college or university student would like to work – a lot of them give preference to some other activities. Moreover, with increased college fees and exam pressures, the majority of students might better try to work on their academic progress. But what the research doesn’t show is that a lot of college students have no job during the academic year or in summer – meaning they are unemployed and that they’ve informed they would like to have a part time job. The IPPR spokesman said that during summer 2015 up to 250 000 16-24-year-old had no job, which meant they had a strong desire to get employed but couldn’t. To add more, he also proved the kind of jobs college students used to get engaged in – such as retail, part-time work or sales – are nowadays highly limited.
So, is it really the end of the part-time jobs era? The surveys prove that even in case skilled and full-time jobs are accessible, they are quite hard for youngsters willing to combine work with full-time education. The problem is that the majority of the recruiters prefer to employ individuals with previous experience, while only 27% of employers choose those, who have just graduated. The reality is that it’s part-time job that help teens to develop professional skills rather than exotic trip. You’ve been to Zimbabwe for hell knows what reason (to save the world of whatever), but what’s the point if you have got no real experience?