Hundreds of millions of people leave their homes everyday to head to work. But there are many jobless people will look on job listing sites or go to a company’s website with the hope that they will find a job. In Saint Cloud, FL, there are many “minors” who will go onto these job listing sites and realize that the only places hiring seem to be real estate, medical, or educational companies.

      Opinions varied at Saint Cloud High School from both students and teachers regarding the job crisis. Nomaris Hernandez, a student, said “The city is still developing so there isn’t as many jobs as people”. This helps point out that there aren’t nearly enough jobs available as people in Saint Cloud. With the population of Saint Cloud exceeding 66,000 individuals as of 2023 according to censusreporter.org, and around 14% of that being kids-teenagers, ranging in ages 10-19 years old, there is a massive competition for jobs.

      With there being so many kids and teenagers, it is expected that there is going to be a fight for the jobs that do pop up. Shaelynn Mercer, a student at Saint Cloud HS, agrees, as she pointed out that, “There are way too many more teens than jobs”. With this, when a job opens, many would think that it would be easy to get a job such as an entry level job but Shaelynn Mercer also said that “There are high expectations on experience and interview responses to even be a cashier at Chipotle”. This shows that even when these jobs open, the requirement can make it even harder to secure the job everyone desires.

      However, not everyone sees it this way and many believe there are jobs available for anyone who wants one. Mr. Cash, the On-the-Job Training teacher, says “people should try and start their own business. For example, a pet sitting or a lawn mowing business. Those who go this route can set their own schedule and pay.” He claims that even though there isn’t a demand for retail jobs or fast-food jobs, there is a demand on the more uncommon jobs, like pet sitting or walking. But if that doesn’t work, Mr. Cash also said, “The most optimal times to start applying for jobs is in March and September”. A big part of this is because March is right before the start of the summer, which is the first busy season of the year, and teenagers in high school and college are less likely to apply before school ends. While in September, it’s right as school is starting back up and students are quitting their jobs to focus more on school.

      Mixed opinions on the job crisis for teenagers in Saint Cloud show that there is a lot of competition when looking for jobs, and high expectations for the people looking, while people need to try and find the most optimal times to apply. Saint Cloud should try and move in a direction that helps their growing population with jobs so that the young populous can also be a part of the working population.

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