summer jobs – For many California teens, finding a summer job has become a tougher bet. Job announcements in entertainment and leisure fell 70% year over year, employment among teens ages 16 to 19 sits at 33.8% as of April 2026, and the numbers point to a weaker hiring seas
It’s supposed to be the easiest work of the year—months when teens can trade schedules made for school for shifts made for paychecks. But for many California teenagers, the summer landing is getting harder.
Job announcements in entertainment and leisure—the sectors where teens often look for seasonal work—have dropped 70% compared to a year ago. based on statistics tracked since 1948 by Challenger. Gray & Christmas. The same firm forecasts 790,000 U.S. summer jobs this year, down by more than 10,000 from the prior year.
The change shows up not just in postings, but in whether teens are actually getting employed. About 34% of today’s teenagers are employed, compared to more than 50% in the late 1970s and 1980s. As of April 2026, 33.8% of teens ages 16 to 19 were employed.
Behind that decline is a summer hiring season that’s struggling to match past momentum. Employers added 801. 000 jobs for teens ages 16 to 19 from May to July in 2025—described as the weakest summer hiring season in the 77-year history of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s a drop of 25.6% from 1,077,000 in summer 2024.
Even the kind of jobs teens typically picture for summer appears to be thinning out. The drop in entertainment and leisure job announcements through April 2026 runs from 28,000 postings a year ago down to 8,261. Theme parks, resorts, hotels, and event operators are expected to plan leaner for the summer.
All of it is happening in a labor market landscape that includes rising wage floors. California’s statewide minimum wage is $16.90 per hour as of Jan. 1. Fast-food employees at large national chains earn at least $20 per hour under Assembly Bill 1228. a landmark California law that went into effect in 2024. Healthcare workers earn $18.63 to $24 per hour depending on facility type.
The hard part for teens isn’t just the cost of living—it’s the window. When job openings shrink in the exact industries that traditionally hire seasonal help, the odds of getting a first paycheck narrow fast.
In the forecast and the hiring data, the message is consistent: the summer job market is weaker than last year, and teens are showing up in smaller numbers at the other end of the application process.
summer jobs teen employment California entertainment and leisure job announcements minimum wage Assembly Bill 1228 Challenger Gray and Christmas Bureau of Labor Statistics
So nobody’s hiring teens now? Figures.
I feel like it’s because everyone wants “experience” but it’s a teen summer job lol. Also $20 fast food sounds nice but maybe they just don’t hire at all? Idk.
Wait, but entertainment jobs dropped 70%… isn’t that just because AI robots do the events now? Like the whole theme park thing is gone. /s but seriously I don’t trust these numbers.
My cousin said she applied for a resort job and never heard back, like at all. But then I read the minimum wage parts and I’m confused—are they saying raising wages makes it harder for teens, or that teens just don’t want to work anymore? The article says both kinda. 33.8% employed sounds low but also I swear in the 80s everyone was working so maybe it’s just normal decline? Either way kids are getting squeezed.