Since the 2008 recession and before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, teen employment opportunities in summer jobs were growing and widespread.
Now, they are going to be hard to find, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The unemployment rate for teens hit 32%, the highest since 1948, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Retail jobs in particular will be hard to come by, as malls slowly open and the general public is hesitant to get back to shopping – if they even have enough free cash to spend in the first place.
Even seasonal lifeguard jobs might be in short supply.
"At this point, it's a big unknown if we will pay our lifeguards or not," Bethesda (Maryland) Aquatics' Chuck Montrie told the Journal, noting he had employed as many as 70 lifeguards and swim coaches ages 15-22. "Our guess is mid- to late June, but that's just based on hope."
Maryland, under Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican but a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, is slow to join the reopening of places of large gatherings.
One job that is in high demand still amid the pandemic is restaurant delivery workers.
"We have a lot of people to choose from now," Craft and Crew Hospitality Inc. (Wayzata, Minnesota) COO David Benowitz told the Journal. "It was challenging to be picky before this. That's turned 180 degrees now."
It might be teens just need to find their niche in parts of the economy that are open for business.
"Be willing to take work that a mother of two can't take," Randstad's Traci Fiatte told the Journal. "Be flexible with overnight shifts, or doing delivery at the restaurant you used to work at."