KSHB 41 News reporter Lauren Schwentker covers stories in the Northland, including in Clay and Platte counties. Have a story idea? Send her an email.
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Kansas City teens are facing one of the toughest summer hiring markets on record, according to new federal data.
Automation, inflation and older workers competing for the same positions are contributing to the struggle.
Cate Palmer can relate to other teens across the nation who have had a hard time finding a summer job.
"It was a lot of, 'No, sorry. You're not old enough.' Or I didn't hear back from a lot of places," Palmer said.
Palmer started her search early, casting a wide net across multiple industries.
"I started about a year ago," she said. "I was looking at fast food, all the different places, and I was just applying to any job I saw."
She eventually landed a job at the Gladstone Municipal Pool.
"I started applying about three months ago, and you can actually get certified here, which was really awesome," Palmer said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says teen employment saw its smallest April-to-July increase on record in 2025.
Dr. Myles Gartland, dean of the College of Business and Technology at Rockhurst University, says the trend has been developing for the past couple of years.
"It's a combination of automation — which tends to impact seasonal workers and high school students, so self-checkout items at the grocery store — as well as just frankly higher prices and inflation and so as companies are looking to cut back," Gartland said.
He also noted that older workers are taking jobs teens would traditionally fill.
"People who have maybe retired from their jobs and they're looking for a few hours to do something outside of their former full-time job, and they're actually taking some of the positions that may be in retail at the hardware store, at the grocery store," Gartland said.
Gartland says applying earlier in the season gives teens a better shot at landing a position — advice Palmer wholeheartedly endorses.
"Oh yeah, 100%," Palmer said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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