HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, May 6, 2022) – The state Department of Technology, Management & Budget’s summer teen employment forecast for 2022 sees youths in search for jobs will enter a favorable labor market, as the post-COVID demand for workers remains high.
Statewide, there will be just over a half million aged 16 to 19 this summer, with a forecasted labor force of 239,000, and a projected teen unemployment rate of 10.1 percent.
That doesn’t mean that all youths are ready for the responsibilities of employment. In the Holland Area, Escape Ministries looks to train about 40 teens for being working citizens, according to its Executive Director, Todd Krygsheld.
“They can learn soft job skills like showing up for work, listening to a supervisor, how to do a good job at a job you don’t like to do,” he said in an appearance on “WHTC Talk of the Town” last week. “Each kid can make about a thousand dollars for the summer by becoming employees of Escape Ministries, and we send them out into the community.
“We partner with Magna Donnelly, with Haworth, with Holland Bus and Motor Company, and with individuals and families from the community. We also get the opportunity to help them prepare for the future, as we bring in different trades, different careers. It helps students understand that this could be a possibility for your future, if that’s what you’re thinking about, and this is what you should be thinking about now.”
For more information on Escape Ministries’ Career Connections program, go to their website.
The state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Wage and Hour Division, hosts a webinar next Thursday, May 12th, at 1:30 PM to provide important information for young job seekers, schools, parents, and employers.
Comments