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The landscape for weekend and part-time jobs available to teenagers has shifted dramatically in recent years, making it increasingly difficult for 16 and 17-year-olds to find employment. While many adults fondly recall the thrill of earning their first paycheck as a teenager, young job seekers today face significant challenges that often leave them feeling overlooked and frustrated. Megan, a 17-year-old student at a sixth form college, shared her personal struggles with securing work, highlighting the common catch-22 of needing experience to get a job but being unable to gain experience without prior employment.
Megan’s experience is echoed by many others of her age group. She explained, “It’s so hard. I’ve tried applying on websites but they don’t accept you if you don’t have work experience. But how are you going to get that work experience if nobody lets you get it? It makes me feel like I’m not wanted… It’s just horrible.” Similarly, Elsebeth, another 17-year-old, finds the situation equally disheartening. Despite submitting numerous applications online, she rarely receives any responses. According to her, “It’s sort of impossible to be honest… Because you’re a younger person, they don’t want to actually give you any job, usually they just want full-time people.”
On the rare occasions when teenagers do secure jobs, it often comes through personal connections rather than formal applications. Mavi, who was fortunate enough to find a role at 16 through a family friend’s help, feels luck played a large part in his success. He observes a common misconception held by employers: “I think employers have an image in their head that you’re young, you’re not really going to take it seriously but, in the case of my friend group, I don’t think that holds up at all.” While some businesses recognize the value young workers bring, financial pressures are forcing many to be more cautious.
One local business owner, Neil Wyatt, who runs the South Downs Social café in Winchester, emphasized the importance of hiring young people despite the risks involved. He said, “We’ve always found young people to be super hard-working, super committed and they just bring a different energy on a busy Saturday or Sunday when we’re full.” Wyatt believes that early employment offers lifelong skills such as customer service and relationship building and insists, “I think it’s really important we find a way to bring people into the world of work as young as possible.” However, he also acknowledged that economic challenges like rising costs for food, energy, and wages have tightened margins, leading to a preference for more experienced full-time staff over younger, less experienced workers.
The competitive environment has been further compounded by rising unemployment rates among 18- to 24-year-olds, which puts additional pressure on younger teens seeking typical entry-level jobs
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