Teens can reportedly expect 9% pay raise at lifeguard, camp counselor summer jobs

Teens looking to pad their pockets this summer are in luck as businesses are expected to increase wages an average of 9% for summer gigs like lifeguards, camp counselors and waiters, according to a report by automated payroll company Gusto.

Gusto’s “Teen Hiring Report,” which was the result of analyzing data from over 300,000 small and mid-sized businesses, found that employers are eager to tap 15- to 19-year-olds to fill out their labor gap.

One in five hires this June is expected to be a teenager, a forecast that would make youth 18% of all hires this month.

The figure is a stark increase from June 2019, when teens made up just 2% of all hires, and is even greater than the 15% of adolescent hires the same month in 2022.

The statistics echo the higher-than-expected hiring in May the Labor Department’s latest data showed.

America’s surprisingly resilient job market delivered 339,000 jobs last month as unemployment increased slightly to 3.7% from 3.4% from April.

The Labor Department also noted that the number of workers in temporary jobs increased by 318,000 to 3 million May — offsetting decreases in the previous month.

Gusto’s report suggests that this could be because teens are out of school and ready to work in temporary nonpermanent positions during the summer months.

Popular gigs include lifeguard, camp counselor, cahier, server, golf caddie, swim instructor, and retail worker, among others.

Among the US’ 50 top metropolitan areas, Virginia Beach was forecast to welcome the most teenaged new hires, at 44%.

Gusto identified the most opportunity in sports and recreation, where it predicts 30% of 15-to-19-year-old fired will be working come June.

The food and beverage industry followed closely behind it at 29%.

Aside from getting jobs at the highest rate Gusto’s seen in four years, teens can also expect to be paid 9% more than they were last summer, the report found, despite recent slow-downs in wage growth.

On average, the pay bump would make the hourly rate $14.89, according to Gusto’s New Hire Pay Index.

The industry expected to offer the highest wages is construction, at $17.91 per hour.

The city ready to dish out the biggest checks is Minneapolis-St. Paul, Gusto found, at $16.77 per hour, followed by Austin, Texas, at $15.88 per hour.

Wage growth has stalled since President Biden took office.

Americans’ real wages — meaning inflation-adjusted wages — are $10 lower per week than they were before Joe Biden was elected commander in chief.

Real wages for men, meanwhile, are $18 a week lower, and real wages for African Americans are $9 a week lower, which has left voters wondering how Biden will explain the stagnation in his run for re-election.