Summer Program Promises To Shift Office Demographics | The argument for employing teens during the off-season
People who have been in the working world for years have probably always complained about young workers who don’t know how to act in the office, don’t work hard enough or just don’t dress right. But in recent years, that lack of work readiness has probably been exacerbated by a climate in which fewer and fewer teenagers get after-school jobs.
“In their formative years, they’re not really seeing role models,” said Jeffrey Turgeon, executive director of the Central Massachusetts Regional Employment Board.
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Now, instead of just complaining, Central Massachusetts employers can do something about the situation. At least, that’s the pitch from Turgeon, who is helping recruit companies to take part in the employment board’s summer jobs program this year.
For the last several years, the board has worked with the state-funded YouthWorks program to match teens and young adults with public- and private-sector jobs in the City of Worcester.
This year, that program has expanded a bit, to 350 jobs in the city, and new federal funding will create another 500 of the jobs throughout 38 communities in Central Massachusetts.
The board is thrilled with the increase, but it’s also scrambling to find spots for all those summer workers.
The young workers, ages 16 to 24, are paid $8 to $12 an hour through the Worcester Community Action Council Inc., which also handles all the employment paperwork. That means the program essentially offers free labor to participating companies.
But Turgeon says many private businesses are hesitant to take part. Because the program runs for only seven weeks, from July 6 to August 21, and participants work only 25 hours a week, he said employers often feel that “by the time they finish training and can actually be useful around the organization, it’s almost like they’re gone.”
Turgeon said he doesn’t dispute that perspective, and he says it’s true that employers need to provide plenty of supervision and guidance, but he urges employers to take a longer view. By introducing kids to careers they might not otherwise have considered, companies can improve their potential labor pool. That’s what the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester has done by taking in about 100 students each year as part of the program and teaching them about various health care careers.
“The long-term nature of it is they’re hopeful a percentage of those young people would want to come back and work for them when they’re adults,” Turgeon said.
Diane Bono, senior director of human resources for UMass, said in an e-mail message that the hospital provides a variety of summer and year-round jobs and internships for young people.
“We feel a commitment to provide the youth in our community with experiences that build skills and confidence, introduce them to the many health careers and promote ongoing education,” she said. “It’s a win-win for all of us — the students, UMass Memorial and UMass Medical School as well.”
It’s not just big employers that offer useful experiences, though.
Turgeon said some of the program’s best placements have been with mom-and-pop businesses, where young people can see the entire operation and interact with customers, not just spend their days in a copy office.
“The experience has been that they get a lot of one-on-one attention, sort of informal mentoring on the job,” he said.
Turgeon said there’s no hard deadline for employers to sign up for the program, but he’s hoping to have enough jobs lined up by June 4.
Got news for our Labor Pool column? E-mail WBJ Staff Writer Livia Gershon at lgershon@wbjournal.com.
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