Holiday job hunt could be hard work for teens

Having opened Dollar Plus in August, Doris Afam is excited about the upcoming holiday season and what will hopefully be a big boost in sales. But that excitement is tempered by the fact that she can’t afford to hire as many works as she would like to handle the holiday rush at her Freedom Drive retailer in Charlotte.

“It’s very difficult,” she said. “Normally I’d hire six or seven high school kids to come in and help. But after I calculated it, I’ll only be able to hire about three. I’m already working with a low profit margin.”

Afam said the main reason she can’t hire as many people as she would like is the increase in the minimum wage, which went up from $6.55 to $7.25 in July 2009.

According to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Employment Policies Institute, it appears Afam is not the only one in this predicament.

The report, released last month, indicates that unemployment among North Carolina teens — those between 16 and 19 years old — in August was 26.5 percent, the 17th-highest percentage in the country. Among those teens, 29.6 percent had been searching for a job for six months or more. Nationally, the average was 23.5 percent. Michael Saltsman, research fellow at the EPI, said that for teens in North Carolina the increase in the federal minimum wage — 40 percent over the past two years — caused a 7.2 percent drop in employment for those with less than a high school diploma.

“Many companies just can’t afford to pay higher wages,” Saltsman said. “Employers are doing more with less, which translates to fewer positions.”

Steve Partridge, managing director of the Charlotte Regional Economic and Workforce Recovery Initiative, said that in addition to the minimum wage, increased competition because of the recession makes it tougher for young people.

“In this economy employers can get very qualified people with more experience for a similar amount of money,” he said. “You’re no longer in competition with other young people, but with people with several years of work experience.”

The lucky ones

Jasmine Walton, 20, is one of the lucky ones. Afam hired her as a part-time cashier at Dollar Plus in August. Walton got the job through Arbor Education & Training. The national organization provides work force-development services such as job-related education, counseling and employment assistance under federally funded programs such as the Workforce Investment Act.

In Charlotte, Arbor Education & Training helps young people through the Inspire Youth program, a contractor for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board, which provides policy, planning and oversight for local work force-development programs. Arbor’s Inspire Youth program is geared toward at-risk children dealing with economic and educational challenges.

Walton started going to Arbor shortly after moving to Charlotte from Memphis, Tenn., in October 2009. Inspire Youth program director Darnell Middleton referred Walton to Afam, who put her to work. Walton said the job at Dollar Plus provides her with some much-needed cash while she’s studying for her GED certificate at Arbor. She hopes to eventually enter Central Piedmont Community College‘s paralegal program.

Middleton said that in addition to assisting teens with getting jobs, the Arbor program in many cases also subsidizes their employment for six to eight weeks in the hopes the company might then put them on its payroll. Middleton said this allows young people to gain useful on-the-job training and experience.

Placement down

But placing young workers with companies has been tough over the past year, including leading up to the holiday season. Middleton said he couldn’t pinpoint that the problem stems to the increase in the minimum wage, but the agency’s numbers are down. Between July 2009 and June 2010, Arbor served 126 kids but was able to only place 36 kids into jobs. Darnell said on average upwards of 60 are placed.

The Q Foundation Inc. is another program that helps young people find jobs. The nonprofit helps 16- to 21-year-olds develop job and vocational skills through GED certificate study programs, work experience, life skills and job-placement assistance.

Q Foundation President Stephan Askew said the increase in the minimum wage has “affected our people tremendously.” He expects the holiday season to not provide much relief. Similar to Arbor’s Inspire Youth Program, The Q Foundation targets at-risk teens and subsidizes their employment for up to six weeks. “But the problem that occurs is that a lot of the organizations and businesses that we partner with can’t afford to keep them after six weeks,” Askew said. On average, Q Foundation serves about 600 young people a year, and over the past year only about 10 to 15 percent have landed jobs.

In addition to owning and operating Dollar Plus, Afam is also president of Divine Health Academy, an independent, post-secondary vocational training institution that that provides continuing education and job-skills training, particularly in the health care industry.

Afam said her students are also having a hard time finding work, which she believes is because of the increased minimum wage. “Instead of hiring two or three workers, a lot of companies are downsizing and only hiring one extra person or none at all.”

Some making hires

However, some retailers are toughing it out and hiring additional help despite the increases in minimum wage. Bob Emory, who owns Black Lion, a 68,000-quare-foot retailer in Charlotte, along with a smaller location in Huntersville, said he plans to hire 15 to 20 seasonal workers, most of them high school and college students.

“I wish the minimum wage wouldn’t go up, but I have to have help,” he said. “Things really ramp up during the holidays, and I’ve already committed to hiring most if not all of my holiday help. It’s tough on my budget, but I don’t have a choice.” ”

Josh Frazier, owner of Black Sheep, a skateboard, clothing and shoe store in SouthEnd, is in a similar position and plans to hire at least three part-time workers for the holiday season.

“As an independent retailer, I try to take a long-term approach to my business. With increasing competition from online retailers and big-box stores, it’s critical that we give our customers the best experience possible. So we won’t let an increase in the minimum wage prevent us from hiring the additional seasonal help needed to maintain our customer service,” he said.

Cindy Harris, who co-owns The Boulevard of NoDa, a boutique that sells everything from jewelry, hats, clothing and home furnishings, plans to hire at least three new employees for the holiday season. She said the increases in minimum wage haven’t really affected her, because she typically starts employees at $8.50 to $9 an hour. “Our pay is still low, but for retail that’s to be expected.”

Harris said that even with so many people out of work, she’s had a difficult time finding good help recently.

“When the recession first started, I found an incredible resource of talented people who were really motivated,” she said. “But now that we’ve been in it for a while … not so much. I’m finding that people are more interested in their paycheck than actually working for me. I guess that’s normal in the business world, but in a small boutique that doesn’t work too well.”

Sam Boykin can be reached at [email protected].