The teenage worker has a big impact on Maryland?s economy ? and school systems have started turning these jobs into valuable career experience.
Approximately 131,000 Maryland teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were part of the state?s work force in 2006, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. Of those, 115,000 found employment, while 16,000 did not, the department said.
Youth between the ages of 14 and 18 accounted for 4.3 percent of Maryland?s work force, nearly one out of every 20 workers, according to a department report released in March and based on 2005 statistics. That age bracket wasn?t getting rich from the jobs, according to the report: their average monthly salary across all industries was $689.
Not surprisingly, most of those teens work in the food service and accommodations industry ? where they comprise 17 percent of the industry?s total work force ? recreation and retail.
“They do provide a really valuable service in retail and food service, those typically entry-level jobs,” said Crystal Martin, deputy assistant secretary with the state Department of Labor?s Division of Workforce Development “We?re trying to move them into fields like health care, where there?s a lot of growth.”
Martin said the department sees a number of teens come through their 34 career centers throughout the state, and many more teens find their jobs through school programs. About 9,000 students statewide participate in various Career Technology Education (CTE) programs, according to the Department of Education, and many more in internship programs at local businesses.
CTE programs vary from school to school, according to Jeanne-Marie Holly, program manager for the CTE systems branch. Holly said some students participate in in-school projects, while others are placed with local businesses and groups where they one day hope to work.
“It makes that whole high school experience much more relevant for students,” she said.
