For generations, landing a summer job has been a traditional American rite of passage. Whether working at a local ice cream shop, a neighborhood grocery store, or an amusement park, teenagers have their very first taste of being a part of the workforce. However, a new report shows that teens are facing the toughest hiring market since the government began tracking the data in 1948.
The traditional summer job that generations of American teenagers have relied on is facing its grimmest outlook in nearly eight decades.
‘That is exactly the kind of work teens depend on.’
Challenger, Gray, and Christmas — a Chicago-based workforce consulting company — released a recent forecast revealing the troubling summer employment outlook that teens are grappling with.
Citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the report noted that last summer’s teen hiring total plummeted to its lowest level since the government began tracking the data in 1948. In 2025, teen summer hiring hit rock bottom at 801,000 positions — the worst figure in the 77-year history of tracking by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, this summer’s job forecast for teenagers is even more dire. In an alarming projection, Challenger, Gray, and Christmas warns that employers will offer teens 790,000 jobs in May, June, and July 2026.
The previous documented low point occurred in 1949 during post-war demobilization, when teen hiring dropped to 932,000. In 2010, the total number of teenage jobs fell to 960,000, when the economic recovery from the Great Recession dragged on.
Fortune reported that federal data shows that approximately one-third of 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States were employed last summer, noting that it is “down from a peak of about 60% in the late 1970s.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that applications for New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program this year have already shattered 2025’s record of 200,000 candidates competing for just 100,000 slots.
Meanwhile, advertisements for summer camp counselor positions on the Indeed jobs board have crashed by nearly 30% year-over-year, according to the WSJ.
“Last summer was the weakest summer for teen hiring we have ever recorded,” said Andy Challenger, labor and workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray, and Christmas.
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Challenger stressed, “What is striking is that it happened without a recession.”
The report by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas cited “rising inflation, climbing oil prices, and a broadly cautious hiring environment” as factors contributing to the historically weak teen summer job forecast. The report also said artificial intelligence, automation, and older workers staying in the workforce later have hurt job prospects for teens.
“Inflation and rising fuel costs are squeezing the same households and small businesses that hire teens, such as amusement parks, restaurants, retailers, and summer camps,” Challenger continued. “When margins tighten, summer hirers will wait for demand to dictate hiring.”
Challenger said, “We predicted a quiet summer last year, and it played out even quieter than expected. The dynamics that drove that slowdown — cost pressures, automation, employers waiting to see how consumer demand holds up — are all still in place, and in some cases they’ve intensified.”
Non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that there were 5,193,000 employed workers ages 16 to 19 in April. The report said the total is a noticeable drop from the figure from April 2025, which saw 5,487,000 teen workers on payrolls.
Challenger pointed out, “When fewer teens are working in April, the late-spring catch-up usually doesn’t close the gap. June will be the most important month to watch, but the trajectory is already pointing down.”
Challenger, Gray, and Christmas reported, “Entertainment and leisure, which led the seasonal categories most relevant to teen hiring last year with 28,000 announced plans, has announced only 8,261 hiring plans through April of this year, a 70% drop.”
Challenger added, “The collapse in entertainment and leisure hiring announcements is one of the clearest signals we have for the summer.”
Challenger said jobs in places like theme parks, resorts, hotels, and events will “run leaner this year.”
“That is exactly the kind of work teens depend on,” Challenger stated.
The report said teenagers could find employment opportunities in agriculture, hospitality, and food service. The report claimed that in areas with crackdowns on illegal immigration could help American teens secure jobs.
“Tighter labor supply in certain regions, particularly those most affected by ongoing immigration enforcement actions, continues to push some employers to lean more heavily on local teen workers,” the report proclaimed.
Challenger declared, “In the places where labor remains tight, teens can be a real solution.”
According to NewsNation, teenagers could find a “few bright spots” in summer employment, including lifeguards and working in retail.
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