Is the future of teen summer jobs over?

Kurt Gabel spent months applying for jobs, anxiously awaiting a call back before the end of the school year.

Gabel, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Dixie Hollins High School, was looking for part-time work to save before heading to technical college for emergency medical training. After what felt like submitting 100 applications, Gabel landed a job at Hot Topic in Tyrone Square Mall.

“[The feeling] was honestly so dreadful,” said Gabel.

The days of teens working behind the counter over summer could be becoming a relic, according to research from the industry firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Last year, the number of teens in the workplace fell to its lowest point on record in nearly eight decades. The U.S. teenage unemployment rate in May was the highest it’s been in any May since the pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Analysts expect that trend to continue this year, meaning consumers are more likely to be greeted by a digital kiosk instead of young workers.

While the number of teens working summer gigs has slowly declined since the 1970s, the rise of artificial intelligence in the workplace, coupled with higher costs for employers thanks to rising inflation and oil prices, is exacerbating the trend, experts say.

A skyrocketing cost of living means the average consumer is spending less on leisure and entertainment this summer — key industries for teen employment, said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray and Christmas. After the post-pandemic labor shortage, companies invested in self-checkout kiosks which eliminated some jobs, he said.

The number of teens seeking summer jobs has been decreasing for decades, Challenger said.

“I always want to point out that it’s not because today teenagers are lazier than they were a generation ago,” he said. “It’s that they have a lot of rational competing priorities,” like extracurriculars, sports or volunteering.

While Florida’s tourism industry may soften the blow dealt to teen jobs locally, the state’s increasing unemployment rate suggests it isn’t immune, said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

In April, Tampa Bay recorded a 4.7% unemployment rate, up from 3.4% last year and 2.9% in 2024, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data. The local unemployment rate has been on the rise since 2022.

For some teens in Tampa Bay, getting a job feels more like an achievement rather than a rite of passage.

Andy Gilbert, a 17-year-old incoming senior at Dixie Hollins, said it took three months to land his job at local mom-and-pop restaurant Williams Sub Shop in St. Pete, despite having experience at several jobs like Taco Bell and Cicis Pizza.

“There’s no big reason for me to be turned away by an employer,” Gilbert said. “In fact, I feel like my resume is actually more appealing than a lot of my peers.”

Snaith said Florida’s increasing minimum wage is affecting teen employment rates. Teens trying to get a foot in the door may be pushed to compete with more experienced workers.

“Everybody trusts adults more than they trust teens,” said Lillian Baxley, 17, who landed her first job at Panera Bread in April after two years of applying.

Baxley, an incoming senior at Dixie Hollins, said she rolls her eyes when she hears people say that teens aren’t good workers or can’t focus. At Panera, the majority of her coworkers are teenagers.

Gabel said his friends have had varying luck with their job applications. Some of them have been hired on their first try, while others remain in limbo. Dealing with constant rejections from applications, Gabel said, is a motivation killer.

And the competition for even minimum wage, part-time work is stiff.

“We’re finding people who should be working nine-to-fives, jobs with licenses, working in a mall,” Gabel said.

Leondra Foster, CareerSource Tampa Bay director of youth services, said the region has a growing job market, but teens struggle to find employment due to a lack of understanding the application process and insufficient opportunities.

Last week, Foster said one young woman came to CareerSource after applying to 60 places with not one callback.

“Now she’s tracking her jobs, and she’s following up with those employers, and she was able to get three interviews scheduled this week,” she said.

Teens seeking a job should consider speaking to employers at smaller businesses in person, Challenger said.

“You go walk up and down a Main Street in any town, and there’s going to be shops that probably need some extra help,” Challenger said. “It’ll never get posted online. Those are really word-of-mouth jobs.”

Unemployment rates are not consistent across every position either. Lifeguard job openings have grown by over 78% nationwide since last year, while camp counseling saw a 28.4% dip, Challenger said.

Matt Mitchell, the YMCA president over the Tampa metro area, said the nonprofit hired 350 summer youth employees across 22 locations. Most young people were hired for camp counseling, and less than 30% of applicants are accepted.

Tampa YMCAs have a good flow of teen applications, Mitchell said. Applications saw a big dip in 2021 after the pandemic but have continued growing since, he said. The YMCA employs close to 1,200 teens across Tampa Bay.

Jerry Arenas, manager for the Zumiez shoe store at Tyrone Square, said he’s hired lot of teens seasonally. Arenas, 28, has noticed an uptick in young people seeking jobs around the mall in general.

“Florida has gotten a lot more expensive,” he said. “Kids are trying to have that mentality of, ‘OK, maybe I should get a car. Maybe I should start seeking a job now.’”