June is Youth Employment Month
By Ryan Hundt, CEO, Michigan Works! Association
When asked about our first jobs, many of us can easily recall pieces of information that result in a flood of memories. Thinking back on my first job as a paper delivery boy for the Lansing Towne Courier, I can still smell the freshly printed papers immediately after being delivered in bulk to a nearby drop-off location. I can still feel the teenage exhaustion that came with waking up at 4:30 a.m. to deliver more than 400 papers each week, made slightly more efficient with a parent driving the family minivan. I can also vividly remember speeding away from more than one newspaper box chased by an angry mob of recently disturbed hornets.
Reflecting on these experiences further, our first jobs as youth often set the course for developing critical employability skills that remain relevant in our future careers. Work ethic, dedication, and customer service come to mind when I think of that paper route in the early 2000s. Fast forward two decades, and I recognize how fortunate I was to be given an employment opportunity at a young age, a simple fact many individuals take for granted. To help raise awareness on the importance of youth employment, and to ensure younger generations have better access to employment opportunities, the Michigan Works! Association is proud to celebrate Youth Employment Month this June.
As much as we talk about the labor force participation rate in today’s worker-friendly labor market, the good news is that almost all young adults – 98.6 percent – hold at least one job between the ages of 18 to 25. However, any long-term measure of economic self-sufficiency will depend on many other factors, such as educational attainment, skills development, and career exploration. Fortunately, youth employment helps individuals achieve success in these areas. Younger workers are afforded more opportunities to develop critical technical and soft skills – the latter of which include things like critical thinking, time management, and teamwork – all of which are in significant demand in today’s tight labor market.
In Michigan, our public officials are acutely aware of the macroeconomic headwinds we face, such as an aging population and skills mismatches in key occupations across high-growth industry sectors. As such, recent investments in career preparedness represent meaningful steps we are taking as a state to address these challenges. This past March, Governor Whitmer announced a $4 million investment in the Young Professionals program, which is being administered by the 16 Michigan Works! agencies to expand career and educational opportunities, with the goal of boosting youth employment rates, increasing the odds of program participants to secure lifelong economic self-sufficiency.
At the Michigan Works! Association, we know this work does not stop with a generous $4 million investment. As the legislature and Governor Whitmer continue negotiating investments deployed through the American Rescue Plan Act, alongside working on the FY23 state budget, one of our legislative priorities is securing an $80 million investment over three years to support year-round work experience, career coaching, and wraparound services for youth, which help to lower or eliminate barriers such as transportation, housing, food security, etc. According to New America, these efforts must focus on paid work experience for younger generations, made even stronger by complementary investments in sustainable education and training opportunities.
For more information on how the Michigan Works! Association is supporting Youth Employment Month this June, please visit www.michiganworks.org and be sure to follow us on social media.