With workers in high demand, teenagers are filling the void

PITTSBURGH — As businesses have taken “closed indefinitely” signs out of their windows and reopened their doors, the landscape of a post-pandemic workforce is changing and depending on an unexpected demographic — teens.

Teenagers have become one of the largest segments of the working population, according to our news partners at Trib Live. The Associated Press reported that, in May, workers ages 16 to 19 made up 33.2% of the national workforce, the highest figure for teen workers since the Great Recession of 2008.

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“Post-pandemic, we are facing the biggest staffing crisis probably in my lifetime, and I’ve been in the business for almost 50 years,” said John Longstreet, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Many people left the industry and found jobs doing other things. Additionally, a lot of restaurants were not able to make it through the pandemic.”

Establishments have found it difficult to serve all of the people who are eager to make up for time lost to the pandemic, Longstreet said.

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“The biggest challenge that restaurants have now is getting enough team members in the house to be able to serve all of the guests that want to come in,” Longstreet said. “There is a lot of pent-up demand.”

Before covid-19, there were about 580,000 Pennsylvanians employed in restaurant and food service jobs, according to the restaurant association. During the pandemic, up to two-thirds of those jobs were temporarily or completely eliminated.

National Restaurant Association reviewed federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data and found that restaurants added 186,000 jobs nationwide in May.

Still, the industry is struggling to find enough workers.

You can read more on TribLive.com.

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