HARRISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Finding a summer job as a teen can be tough, and experts believe this year could be an all-time record low season for teen employment.
"You got to start somewhere. McDonald's, Wendy's, they can only offer so many people so much," said restaurant owner Walter Tapp. "This is more of a home-cooked atmosphere, so you're not just learning how to cook burgers and chicken, you're learning to cook a lot more items."
Tapp and three other owners manage The Family Table, a Cynthiana restaurant that opened this past May.
"We got fried bologna. We got catfish," said Tapp. "Everybody is so busy nowadays, hardly anyone ever sits down at the family table, so that clicked and we wanted to name it that to bring back some unity."
According to Tapp, in a family, everyone gets a chance. In doing so, Tapp employs individuals with criminal records and local high schoolers.
"I applied to probably a hundred different places, never heard back from any of them," said Hayleigh Hall, one of Tapp's teen employees.
A study from outplace firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas states that 790,000 teens will be working this summer. The study also states that statistic will be the fewest working on record.
Hall said it's not for lack of trying.
"I've been looking for a job since last year, and all the jobs you have to be 18 or have certain qualifications that you can't get and it's just so hard," she said.
The study cites tariffs, automation, and competition from older workers as factors to the decline.
