Bucking a national trend, there is no shortage of lifeguards as Butler County’s pools reopen for the summer season.

Locally, pool operations are running smoothly, as increased hourly pay and proactive recruitment have reeled in an ample supply of recruits for the positions.

In fact, summer hiring for teens is on the rise nationwide after taking a hit during the height of the pandemic. Teens are expected to make up nearly 20% of summer hires this year, according Gusto, a payroll processor for more than 300,000 businesses nationwide. That’s up from just 2% in pre-pandemic 2019.

Teens are set to make up 26% of all hires, up from 21% a year ago, Gusto says.

The robust teenage workforce is helping restaurants, hotels, and other seasonal businesses stay open longer and provide faster and better service to consumers as pandemic-related worker shortages improve but persist in many regions. It’s also bolstering an economy that most forecasters believe will slip into a recession later this year.

The share of 16- to 19-year-olds working or job hunting hit nearly 37% for all of last year, the highest since 2009, Labor Department figures show. Their participation rate peaked at almost 47% last July, and that will likely be topped this summer, with the rate so far in 2023 already surpassing last year’s pace.

The trend is reversing a longstanding decline in teen employment. The share of teens working or looking for jobs tumbled from 58% in 1979 to around 35% in 2020, Labor Department figures show.

The drop-off can be traced to teens’ increased involvement in school activities, volunteer work or jobs not tracked by the Labor Department, as well as older and foreign workers taking jobs once filled by teens, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

Teens’ resurgence in the job market is partly rooted in higher pay, with the average national wage for 15- to 19-year-olds projected to reach $14.56 per hour this summer, up 9% from a year ago, says Gusto.

Some employers prefer to hire teens during the current time of high inflation because they’re less expensive than 25- to 54-year-olds, who are set to earn an average of $23 per hour this summer, up 2% from last year.

So put down that phone or video game controller and get a job. There are plenty waiting for you. It’s time to start building for the future.

– JGG