by Eric

In the summer of every year, you are happily ready to get a job but since the pandemic has hit, continuing or finding that summer job will greatly impact you and the company’s business.
In these tough times of 2021 during the pandemic, have you ever wondered about that one summer job you were looking for? Yet it is not attainable because of your safety and its availability? This is an article about the many ways you can find a summer job, even if there is a pandemic. Whether you want to be a camp counsellor or work at a clothing store, there are many ways of finding a summer job in this virus-filled year of 2021.

If you would like to become a camp counsellor for your summer job but you are worried about your safety, you could always do the counselling online. Abdi a grade 11 student commented “The real difference between online and in person counselling is the experience. It differs from building a community with the people around you, instead of going on a computer and teaching a bunch of lessons” This is a lot more safe, and you still have the feeling of helping people with their difficulties/problems.

If you wanted to work at a clothing or shoe store like Nike or Roots, but these jobs are not available. A possibility is you could call different companies and ask a couple of questions like: Is there a possible position I could fill? Are there any precautions I need to take before I look to attend this job? Could you describe a typical workday, or week for this job? Depending on how available you both are and if there is an available position for the job, you now have the chance of getting a job.

Ben, Reed & Matei

Many teenagers are pressured to get their first job and as a result, there is a lot of stress that is put onto their backs when trying to find a job. Not only is it hard for them to find jobs, but they also aren’t paid as much, given as much freedom, and they are generally just not treated as equal to adults.

A student/teenager makes 13 dollars an hour if they work 28 hours or more in the week, but if they work less than that they only get paid $9.60 an hour, An adult gets paid 14$ an hour, and in comparison, this is quite a bit more money than a student makes, especially if you look at it over time. In a 52 week year, someone works 28 hours or more as a student they make $18,928, but if they work it as an adult they make $20,384. If you are a Teenager that works 18 hours a week, you only make $8,985.

The workplace isn’t always accepting, Kyle (not his real name) is a 15-year-old student at North Toronto that works a part-time job at a local store, and he believes that he isn’t treated equally and fairly when compared to others at his job. He works less than 28 hours a week which is what is required by the government to be worked for a student if they want a full minimum wage. He says “ I’m treated differently because I’m new” and, “I think it’s BS” which strongly shows how he doesn’t like the way he’s treated, and that he doesn’t receive the respect he thinks to deserve.

This is just one example of age bias in the workplace, but it is all around us and with society’s norm being that people should get a job as a teen it is unusually difficult.