"I've had more international students than I ever had in the last eight years"

For Sussex County teenagers, snagging a good summer job and getting a paycheck for some fun in the sun was once just a simple matter of heading to the beaches and filling out a few applications. Not any more.

This year, with county unemployment at 8.8 percent in April -- the highest among the three counties, with Kent at 8.5 and New Castle at 8.6 -- the competition for jobs as restaurant servers, lifeguards and boardwalk business cashiers is stiffer than ever. There are more high school and college students applying than in the past, and they're going up against more experienced layoff victims and a still-substantial number of international students.

"This is the most competitive I've seen," said Mike Jandzen, owner of Bethany-based Aquatic-Marine LLC, which supplies lifeguards to pools and private beaches. "The job market for students is very tough."

The teenage summer employment situation in Delaware is still better than in the rest of the country, said Andrew Sum, a professor of economics at Northeastern University who studies youth employment.

But that's not necessarily saying much.

This summer, only 28 percent of U.S. youths ages 16-19 are expected to find work. Just over 40 percent of Delaware teens were working last summer, by contrast, Sum said.

Since the middle part of the decade, that number has dropped from about 60 percent, he said.

The reason is simple: In this recession, older workers, college graduates and immigrants are taking over the jobs once held by teenagers.

"When a young kid goes for the job, they find themselves at the very back of the queue," Sum said.

The Casa DiLeo Italian restaurant in Rehoboth Beach is open year-round, like many eateries, but boosts its staffing in the summer to accommodate tourists. Manager Micah Vugrinec said he's been flooded with applications for four open positions. Many of those job-seekers come with substantial experience, seeking a new post because they've been laid off or their former restaurant has closed, he said.

"We've had a nice pool of people to pick from," Vugrinec said.

Businesses report a steady volume of international applicants. Pat Irelan, general manager of Jungle Jim's water park outside Rehoboth, said he'd heard that there might not be as many international students seeking to work in the United States this year because of the recession. That's not the case, he said.

"I've had more international students than I ever had in the last eight years, despite the value of the dollar and some of their concerns," Irelan said.

Overall, said Carol Everhart, executive director of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, the number of international workers is down from its height of several thousand a few years ago, to about 900 expected this year.

Jandzen said he has favored international students in the past because they can commit to the entire summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. During better times, U.S. students simply didn't apply, choosing to work at unpaid internships or travel abroad. "We really didn't see them that much in the job hunt," he said.

That's changed this year, as families' budgets have been squeezed and college students in particular have opted for a paycheck over career experience.

"So many people are looking for work," Jandzen said.

While the last decade has seen lower rates of teenage employment, the recession years have seen a precipitous drop, Sum said.

"Almost every state has just declined dramatically over the last three years," he said.

Carrie Subity, executive director of the Bethany-Fenwick chamber, said the "quiet resorts" have seen an increase in job openings this year, spurred in part by new businesses starting up as entrepreneurs take a chance that the economy is on a rebound.

"We've done more ribbon-cuttings in the past two months than we have ever had in April and May," she said. "It's a very positive outlook for us right now."

Teenage workers also seem to be returning to safe havens -- places they've worked before, instead of moving into new and potentially more lucrative jobs.

Irelan said that at Jungle Jim's, about 80 percent of its 225 workers are back for another year.

When his staffers hit 16 or 17, they usually move on to other beach jobs, he said.

"They're looking for more serious money -- to get into busing tables, or the restaurant scene," Irelan said.

But some of those jobs are no longer there, even for experienced food service employees, Vugrinec said.

"A lot of our applicants have been either from restaurants that have closed or their positions have been gone," he said.

source: delmarvanow.com