Teen Labor Market Faces Record‑Low Summer Hiring

‘This isn’t the teen workforce of the 1980s,’ says global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

A group of teens runs into the ocean on a warm Spring afternoon at Coney Island in Brooklyn in New York City on April 1, 2026. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Summer was once a reliable season for teenagers to pick up work experience and earn a little spending money. That rite of passage may be fading for America’s youth.

The teen hiring rate this summer is expected to reach a 78-year low, according to a May 20 report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.