Kids, can't find a summer job? That's 'cause adults took them all

It is ridiculous to say teens do not need these jobs or that they only need the extra cash for beer. Disgusting! What about eating at the end of second semester of University, or bus money to get home when things are stressful or school supplies and laundry money. As hard up as adults are they are not able to help their kids as they might like to. With the kids navigating school on scholarships and osap loans there is not a lot of money left for beer and other entertainment. I am not suggesting they do not spend money on these things but don't we all need the release of some entertainment in these very difficult times for both adults and teens?

I am a 19 year old university student currently working two part-time jobs and one casually. In all my places of employment (which I was only able to get due to this being my hometown and having connections with my employers) I work with both mature adults and people my own age. And you know what? The lazy workers aren't just the young ones! Doing a sloppy job and having no pride in your work is NOT a characteristic solely belonging to my age group. Most every student I have encountered throughout my education works for one reason: they need money to pay for their education. Tax rates are on the rise, tuition is incredible, and the cost of living is going up. If us young people can't afford to go to school, who will the doctors be once 10-15 more years pass by? Most doctors here nowadays are retiring in that timeframe, mostly ones who have been working past their real retirement age. Being a hard working has nothing to do with your age- its your own ethic. If Mom and Dad come home day in day out complaining how they hate their job, that becomes the norm in a teens mind and chances are they'll hate their job too!
So really, we all need the work and if my resume were to stand up against one of a more experienced worker, yes they'd win out. But when they're dead and gone, who will be experienced? NOBODY.

Hey WAKE UP and SMELL the coffee and stop whining about your kids not having jobs!. Anyone of voting age 18 in 1987 who voted for Brian Mulroney deserves this punishment for their children. I for one was able to take advantage of the "freebie" of capital tax on 100,000.00 for voting for Brian , great for me but we sold the next generation out big time as evidenced today.

In the year 2000, how about all the back office jobs that went to India. Bell Sympatico turned all their customer's technical support over to India,(read cheap labour) I now have the worst support imagined. I have to fix my own technical problems but my Bell Internet costs did not go down at all to reflect this cheap labour. Only Bell Sympatico realizes the profit, certainly didn,t go into my pocket.

How about all the large software companies that went to India looking for Cheap labour, Microsoft, Oracle , Hewlett Packard, you name the company and they are all there.The technical support, applications support jobs each company in Canada had to employ are now gone, FOREVER. God knows they didn,t want to have to pay those High End Salaries . How complacent can the Canadian Adults be, there should have been protests in the streets but know it was a ' Hey I'm all right Jack' attitude and companies just laid off their IT staff quietly.

Well it has all caught up with them know, even though it has been happening for the last 20 years.

There are no jobs available in alot of companies, CANADA is now a Branch Office economy. Think of all the American companies who have downsized their company presence in CANADA. I for one in my career worked for a large software company in Canada.full head office complete with presidents, vice presidents, directors , manages, staff. Got paid a great salary. Was transferred to the US with the same company for more monies , had a great career, was able to retire early. Sixteen years later that same Canadian software company , has no president, vice presidents, directors, managers or staff. This software company is now run totally from the US(my old US Bosses) with US staff thanks to T1 visa,s and who needs to hire a Canadian to do business in Canada. Don,t forget the US people do not spend their wages in Canada, so no trickle down effect in the economy for any other Canadians to benefit.

WELCOME TO SERFDOM AND ECONOMIC SLAVERY ,BE A POLITE CANADIAN AND SEND THANK YOU NOTES TO YOUR CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, PRIME MINISTERS.

Anyone ever heard of the globalization of trade? Used to be there were poor countries where you could get cheap labour and rich countries who farmed out work (at the expense of worker at home) to increase their profit margins and impress their shareholders. Guess what, there are only so many dollars to go around, provided the fed doesn't just print more, but I digress. The point is that as a result of global trade there is an equalization in wealth between rich and poor countries. That being said and there being a finite pool of cash the result when all the dust settles it that all countries (in a perfect world, which it's not) will end up with a common standard of living, meaning.
The standard of living in rich countries will go down whild the standard of living in poor countries will go up. We live in a "rich" country so we will loose out. Don't believe me? Look around.
It's not about older workers taking jobs from younger ones, it about a leveling of the playing field.

Sure hope my kids get good jobs because they are going to have to support me and not just when I'm old and decrepit but right now!

May the best person win.

The richest quebecer owns a drugstore chain by his name and lives in the US in Vermont, a low taxe, low services state... his wealth is around 2 400 millions. By living there instead of in Quebec, I guess he saved hundreads of millions in tax... and the tax that he does pay... he does not pay them to the people who gave him the opportunity to grow his business...

I do not agree with Darlene about a partisan issue... I wonder if Iggy himself is not an American!... I think it is more about a better accounting system of how value is built, and also a need for uniform corporate and capital tax rates in trade free zones.

Like many adults being served by the kids today is a joke. There is no pride in the job they do. They want the money but do at the least amount of work to get it. In a number of fields of work take a look at how many it take to do the job now compared to 10 or 20 years ago. Kids are spoiled today, i want I want I want. When the economy forced employers to hire these kids, a disaster waiting to happen. Costs arise from this whether safety issue, have to hire more to compensate, or poor service to the public. We as consumers put up with it and pay for it in the long run.

"but who ultimately needs the money more, adults or teenagers?"

Well, I got my first job to begin paying for University, so optimistically speaking: Teenagers. Better to give a chance to somebody starting out their life on the right track, than to somebody who took the wrong one and blew it.

Working at that job, we did have a couple of "lifers" who'd love to throw around phrases like "I've been here for 14 years!" C'mon, that's similar to saying you've been stuck in Grade 9 that long!

Furthermore, I've NEVER, and never will have a min. wage job. Low wages are for 'low' people.

Adults should have a first shot at getting any job before teens get one because adults more than likely have families to support and would take theres jobs more seriously by showing up everyday for work....the money will be used to feed their kids instead of a of buying ipods and other toys on the market today....

I wouldn't go as far as to say people are "stealing" jobs away from teenagers because really everyone has to survive.

What I will say is that I find the people here disgusting accusing teens of being lazy with lousy work ethic. I'm sure some are but the same statement can be applied to other adults. I know plenty of hard working teens who are concerned about their future too. My young teenage son works well over 25 hours a week at McDonalds. He works hard and never calls in sick.

I have another son working in retail and he's also on the move for more hours to pay for his university. My daughter also works full time (she was lucky to get a job relative to her studies) to pay for her last year of university and works hard, so stop generalizing.

Yes, people do need to pay their food bills and mortages and that's important, but don't minimize a teens need for cash. It's pathetic to assume that they all buy beer from that money. When I see people exiting beer stores they look more 20s + to me. Lots of teens help support their families by providing their own entertainment money, clothing and tuition. These comments are just down right nasty.

To the person who suggested that youngster shouldn't work, what do you suggest? They just hang around so they can be called lazy trouble makers. By the way, for many it isn't just leaving a trip to the Caribbean to provide education. What about the years parents have been ripped off by governemnt in hydro and property taxes along with countless other bills. What's wrong with kids gaining some work ethic and working for what they achieve?

I also blame globalization. For those of you here who were waiting for the elimination of unionized well paid jobs, well this is the result. People fighting over minimum wage jobs. We've just reduced ourself to the standard of living of the developing nations. It's sad really.

My son just turned 13. Legally, he cannot work for pay. That is a fact. But there is nothing stopping him from getting work experience by doing volunteer work. He will be "working" at a golf course for a few days a week. This not only will keep him busy during the summer and off the computer/Wii but it will give him valuable work experience. Next year, he will be able to go back to the golf course, for pay, and will already know what is expected of him and be ready to put in a days work. Incidently, he wants to be an enginering lawyer when he finishes university. He has goals and ambitions, not all kids are lazy.

Hi Jossie,
Thanks for replying. All I meant was that if kids have to work, that takes a lot of time and energy away from their education. Work ethic can easily be cultivated through tasks around the house and volunteering within one's limits. Adults have the responsibility to maximize their kids' available time for study. That involves taking away mandatory time for working for pay, if you can. Of course many families will not be in that fortunate of a situation. In the end it all depends on the kid. Some may choose to "hang around so they will be called lazy trouble makers". But at least your conscience can be clear that you've done your best, if you've provided them the environment and the opportunities.
CC

I am an adult who has been laid off for the 2nd time in two years, you will now say wow what a loser, but I work my butt off, I worked for the first company for 11 years, I put in 60 to 70 hours a week along with a p/t position on top, we had several individuals of varying ages who spent the day on the internet watching tv shows, putting on makeup, on personal calls, going for 50 smoke breaks, but who was the one whose positition was deleted mine, then I finally found a great place to work and bang the economy goes poof and because I was the last one hired I am out the door. I have not had a sick day in 6 years, I have to fight to get my vacation time off, so most of the time do not take it. I am a one income household with a mtg, and loans and costs. If I get offered a job I do not care who else applied I need to eat and keep a roof over my head, I will jump at the chance. No complaining about long hours or no breaks I just want to work. I am sure that all unemployed people are thinking the same thing. STOP JUDGING OTHERS WITHOUT FACTS.

Being a university student from Oshawa I understand all too well the trials of trying to find a job for the summer. Almost all of the jobs which students traditionally hold have been taken by adults who were laid off and with the slow economy, not many places are hiring extra summer staff. And while I respect that these are people who need to pay the bills and feed their families it still doesn't make it any easier. As a student whose parents make too much for me to qualify for OSAP I have two options to fund my schooling: the money I make in the summer time or expensive student lines of credit. Since we are students we don't qualify for unemployment like those who weer laid off do, so it hits us twice as hard to be unemployed. I know many friends who are working 10 to 20 hours per week and consider themselves lucky, but who have no idea how they are going to make ends meet. So while I understand the need to adults to get back into the workforce they are not just affecting 16 year-olds looking for some pocket cash but also students who need their summer cash for the same basic needs like tuition, food and rent.

teens who expect everything are only following in the footsteps of their generation x parents who have lived beyond their means and now are mortgaged to the hilt because they all bought their dream home as their first home, the teens have been brought up to be consumers 'to the max' but in a digital age that their parents do not relate to

i remember the recession in the summer of 93 when adults were given jobs over students since they had mouths to fill as opposed to minds, same thing today, teens will work when they NEED money, simple as that, but i do wish them luck, the world aint gettin any easier