Summer Jobs Scarce For Students

With July already drawing to a close, most people who are working summer jobs have been doing so for at least a month or two now. And those who haven’t been working that long, likely aren’t working at all. QMI Agency reports today that students across Canada are really having a tough go at finding those all-important summer jobs this year.

For necessities such as tuition, books and rent for accommodations throughout the school year, the summer job is something that nearly all students need. However, the recent recession, it seems, is making it difficult for employers to open up their doors to taking in more staff this year.

As QMI reports, economist Alex Koustas recently wrote that about 300,000 seasonal jobs have been created for students this year. However, the student jobless rate is at 15.9 per cent. This is significantly higher than the 11 per cent jobless rate of 2009. One of the reasons for this is that some businesses have been cutting back on hiring to save money.

This is especially true for those industries that provide goods and services that are considered “non-essential”, such as tourist attractions. After all, if consumers are spending less on certain things, those businesses can only spend so much themselves. Unfortunately, for many students, going through the summer without jobs will present major financial hardships throughout the school year.

QMI points out that tuition fees across Canada are steadily on the rise. According to Koustas, they have risen 7 per cent over the past twenty years “with an average 2 per cent annual increase in the overall inflation rate.” In fact, rising tuition costs are prompting most college and university students to work all year round and not just in the summer.

Said Koustas: “It remains clear that the student labour market lags the general economic recovery by a significant margin at a time when students are highly dependent on part-time or full-time work to fund their studies and living expenses.” QMI adds that some students can only find work as interns.

And while such work helps for one to gain experience and heighten his or her understanding of a particular course of study, it does not pay. If you’re a business owner experiencing a slower than usual summer, we’d love to have you speak to one of licensed funding specialists about how our merchant cash advance program can assist you through your slower than usual season.