Last month, Taylor Hacoba was strolling through Prince Kuhio Plaza when she noticed a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of Sunlight Express.
“I needed money to save up,” Hacoba said. “So I applied.”
Hacoba’s decision paid off. Just days after graduating from Keaau High School, Hacoba, 18, found herself gainfully employed at the quick-service restaurant for the summer, where she washes dishes, preps food and helps customers, among other duties.
Hacoba is among hundreds of Big Island teenagers working this summer in what appears to be one of the best job markets in about a decade. The county’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 percent in April, which is one of the lowest rates in about 10 years.
The county also added hundreds of food service and retail positions in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same quarter of last year.
Nationally, however, some data show fewer teens as a whole are working these days than in the past. The summer employment rate for 18- to 19-year-olds nationally was 43.6 percent in 2014, according to a Pew Research Center report, down from 62.6 percent in 2000. Just 20 percent of 16- to 17-year-olds were working in 2014, less than half the rate in 2000.
Employment of 16- to 19-year-olds peaked in 1978 at 58 percent, but in recent years the rate has struggled to rebound close to those levels since the Great Recession.
Jordan Bruneau, a senior research analyst at the nonprofit Employment Policies Institute, called current teen employment figures “especially stark given the current strong economy.”
Bruneau attributes the drop to increased competition from online retailers, which he said has caused brick-and-mortar retailers nationally to whittle down this year.
Locally, Radio Shack shuttered its Hilo store last fall after filing for bankruptcy and later closed its Kona location.
The Payless ShoeSource branch in Kona similarly closed this year after the company filed for bankruptcy, and PacSun, a popular clothing store for teens, closed its Hilo mall location in December.
Sports Authority closed both of its Hawaii Island stores last year after filing for bankruptcy protection, putting 42 people out of work in Hilo. Though new tenants for the spot – T.J. Maxx and Petco – were announced this week.
Bruneau also attributes the teen employment drop to a rise in the use of automated systems — such as self-checkout lines — which perform tasks once assigned to young workers.
“Young job seekers are facing a perfect storm of employment barriers this summer,” Bruneau said.
It’s difficult to gauge how many East Hawaii teens are working this summer compared to years past. The state issued 596 Certificates of Age in Hilo in 2016 (required for those under 18), a slight increase from the 514 issued in fiscal year 2013-14.
The state issued 85 Certificates of Employment (required for those ages younger than 15 to work) to Hilo youth in 2016, about on par with numbers from a couple of years ago.
And many East Hawaii teens perform jobs that don’t require certificates. For example, Volcano resident Malia Rideout said her 15-year-old daughter, Ocean, works part time selling their artwork at local farmers markets during the summer.
“It teaches them business skills early on,” Rideout said. “Which is really important to have a leg up ahead of time these days. If you wait until you’re 18 to start learning business, you’re going to have a lot of people ahead of you.”
That’s also why Leah Sakamoto, store manager at skate-surf shop Zumiez in the Prince Kuhio Plaza, says she enjoys employing teens.
Sakamoto said she increases her summer staff each year as back-to-school season approaches, though the competition is tough: Some years, Sakamoto said she’ll sift through more than 100 applications.
She said she prefers employing older students who earn high grades and have a strong work ethic.
“Normally, I’ll end up with about four to five because a lot will end up saying, ‘I’m going on vacation,’” Sakamoto said. “I say, ‘OK, I’m not going to want to hire you, if you’re not going to be here.’ So a lot of them have to prioritize — is this something you really want to commit to? Because I’m looking for serious workers. I’d rather give the job to someone who wants to be here.”
At KTA Super Stores, up to 15 percent of its roughly 800 employees are teens and college-age workers, said Glenn Kodama, vice president of human resources. Many are hired to fill shifts for regular employees who take vacation during the summer, Kodama said, though some continue working once school resumes.
“We want to give them experience for more permanent jobs,” Kodama said.
“A lot of students are here for a short time, and we know they’re here for a short time, but we try to give them the work experience to help them get jobs down the road.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
