With staffing shortages and supply chain issues, more businesses than ever are relying on a younger workforce, including students at GEHS. With a surplus of available positions, many local businesses are powered by their student employees.

“I pretty much just started the job and went in blind,” junior Casey Binkley said, who worked at Dominos at the time of this interview.

Before being hired, students often don’t know much about their job except what they’ve heard from friends, especially if it’s a low-wage position. Students have reported getting hired very fast, and begin quickly after hiring.

“A couple hours after I applied, they called me,” junior Spencer Schart said. Schart works at Outback Steakhouse. “I had an interview the next day.”

To combat the staffing shortages, high school students are often working long hours. Local restaurants like Goodcents have signs indicating longer wait times due to these shortages. This leads added stress, students say, as they find their jobs to be asking more of them compared to the actual tasks delegated to their position.

“I get infuriated at my job. I don’t really like my job,” Binkley said. “Dealing with customer service at a food place…is really difficult. It doesn’t feel worth it for $10 an hour to do a lot of the things I do. Some days I’ll do more than a manager will do.”

According to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43.1% of all minimum wage workers are between the ages of 16 to 24. 

“I think minimum wage would be a great thing to raise…People can’t live off minimum wage,” Binkley said. “You need like two or three minimum wage jobs to be able to support having something other than an apartment.”

Businesses may also hire quickly due to employee turnover, which is the rate at which hired employees then quit or resign.

The feeling of stress in the workplace is not uncommon, and according to a 2018 study by Mercer, burnout, lack of happiness, and poor mental health are some of the top reasons why employees quit their jobs.

“A lot of the people I work with are adults, but they’re still young,“ junior Abby Roy said. Roy works at Scooters. “They work all the time…and they still have a hard time providing for themselves.”

Even during teen years when kids are supposed to be enjoying themselves, many can’t afford to not work, if only to just have a way to get to school.

“Not so much societal pressure [to get a job], but, I mean, I have to have a car,” Roy said.

Today’s teens are working to make their own money and be productive, even if it causes stress and anxiety. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 10.4 million jobs open as of August 31, 2021. The hours worked yearly in the U.S. is also higher than all other G20 countries except Russia, South Korea, and Mexico, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), which reports labor data around the world.

Despite the clear need for work, so many students and young adults feel overworked and underpaid.