Good news for summer job seekers: Jobs should be more plentiful this year and a majority of employers have jobs paying more than $15 per hour, according to a new report.
The $15-per-hour wage has been highlighted this week by thousands of demonstrators at McDonald’s headquarters, where workers demanded higher wages for frontline employees at all McDonald’s restaurants, not just company-owned ones.
A report released Thursday by CareerBuilder showed 53 percent of employers offered summer jobs that have roles paying $15 or more per hour, on average. Nearly three-quarters, 72 percent, will pay summer hired $10 or more per hour. That’s up from 64 percent last year.
Overall, more than a third of private-sector employers, 36 percent, are hiring seasonal workers this summer, up from 30 percent last year and an average of 21 percent from 2008 to 2011.
The rebound in summer jobs should be good news for college and high-school students, common targets for employers offering internships and seasonal work during summer break, CareerBuilder said.
“Many summer jobs went away completely during the recession as companies eliminated internship programs and as households cut back on vacation and recreation spending,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “The growing number of employers adding seasonal help in good-paying jobs this summer is a strong indicator of labor market momentum.”
As usual for summer, leisure and hospitality employers lead all industries in summer-hiring expectations, but IT firms and financial services employers are among the first in line for summer workers, CareerBuilder said.
A wide majority of employers hiring this summer — 77 percent — say they will consider summer hires for permanent positions. Workers who ask for more responsibility, contribute ideas and ask to be kept on after the summer are best positioned to turn a temporary job into a permanent one, employers said.
The survey was conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between Feb. 11 and March 6, and included a representative sample of more than 2,000 full-time, U.S. hiring and human resources managers across industries and company sizes, CareerBuilder said.
The Fight for 15 movement for higher wages concentrates more on year-round minimum wage jobs, not just summertime posts. It has led to victories in cities including Chicago, which is raising its hourly minimum wage from $8.25 to $10 on July 1 and to $13 by mid-2019. On Tuesday, Los Angeles voted to increase its $9 per hour minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
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