In the “City and Region” Section of today’s Boston Globe, side by side one article spoke of the Cape being so short of labor that many business owners are closing weeks early, waiting tables themselves, dropping lunch from their restaurants, etc. This is due to current immigration policies, and loss of summer workers from over seas. See: http://www.boston.com/news/loc…
Right next to THIS article, is an article about the high unemployment in the 16-24 year old age group in Boston, and a $200,000.00 grant that hopes to begin to do something about it in January.
http://www.boston.com/news/loc…
Why bring young adults from overseas to do these Cape jobs, while high school and young adult residents of Massachusetts are unemployed? What if that $200,000.00 grant set up boarding houses with some supervision and support on the Cape – and OUR residents did those jobs.
Just think – no airfares.
No visas needed.
No remittances going over seas – the money would stay HERE.
Training in culinary arts, the work ethic, in being valued for otherwise unemployed young people.
Why not?
You should contact the local DTC’s and see if they can find someone wiling to work on a pilot program – from there, you might be able to get some grant money to try it out.
Minimum wage causes higher unemployment among certain groups. Students is on of those groups.
<
p>Why, I’m even part of the problem. I used to hire 3 to 5 students every year in the summer. They’re a mixed bag as workers go: no experience, mixed results.
<
p>But just this year, rather than paying $8 for students, I decided to pay $10 for adults–the work is for laborers in the arboring business. I can pick guys who really need the money, know they’ll get fired if they screw off. I’ve had good success.
<
p>I’d still hire students if they’d work cheaper, but it’s illegal. Sorry kids.
<
p>Same’s true in the kitchen biz. Why hire a kid who’ll leave you in Sept and will cost you minimum wage when you can get an adult? That’s a rhetorical question because that’s what’s happening in the agric biz, the food service biz, the construction biz.
The unemployment of those in the 18-30 year old age group in Boston, New Bedford, Springfield, etc. is scandalous. Pay folk I know $10.00 an hour, adults, from New Bedford and they will stay on the Cape for the summer, with as was once said, “bells on”.
I’m addressing the “unemployed youth” portion of your equation. Your post refers to unemployment within the 16 – 24 age group.
<
p>Eliminate the minimum wage requirement for students and you give employers, like me, an incentive to hire them.
This entire thread is an example of the location, location theme .. how circumstance can vary so greatly from one spot to the next …. Is there actualy some supposed labor shortage on the cape?
Here in the lawrence/lowell region, unemployment has been running north of 10% for years, and thats just the official number, who knows how high it realy is, so AmberPaws OP sounded like an excellent idea.
Now to your response … also interesting in an unrelated sort of way. I hadnt thought of your angle but it is a logical response. What I am wondering though is if you are making a case that the minimum wage hike was bad .. without it wouldnt you have continued to employ youth leaving more adults beating the pavement? How would that have been a net plus. Do you feel you are getting your moneys worth versus paying less for the services of listless youth or would you likely have been able to obtain the service of the same adults but at a lower payrate?
Students are just such a mixed bag: no work experience, no skill, no expectations or maybe some unrealistic expectations.
<
p>All in all, kids are just inferior workers by virtues of their i) inexperience and ii) part-time nature. Summer work is like a mini-apprenticeship. Employer get value, but are also doing them a favor to a degree.
<
p>Question: Why should we pay them the same minimum wage as an adult because the state knows better.
<
p>Answer: we don’t.
Had actually talked about that yesterday with one of the people involved in the Boston initiative. While the $200,000 program is more to create real permanent jobs with decent wages, there should certainly be more cooperation between Cape business leaders and city officials, who can line up willing workers.
<
p>I believe that East Boston High School has a “tourism” career track, so maybe a partnership with that school to hire 20-25 kids for starters would break the ice. Or Madison Park High, which has a culinary program.
<
p>It seems the state could put some money into this as a “regional cooperation” program ….
<
p>Thanks for posting this!
Government would never see the logic of this suggestion though.
<
p>I’ll wander here for a moment… I have often wondered why the immigration issue falls as it does along party lines and not exactly opposite. Dems seems to be for more of what we have and Repubs are against it. BUT… the losers in the current immigration mess are Democrats. Who’s jobs are being stolen by immigrants… Democrats. Who’s pay rate is being driven down by cheap labor… Democrats. As a professional, my job is certainly not in peril so why wouldn’t I support cheap labor? I have had a ton of work done at my house, almost all of it by company’s with illegal immigrants. It’s like legal slavery. And supposedly rich Republican businessman should be jumping at cheap labor so they don’t have to pay us workers. So… why aren’t Democrats against the illegals and Republicans for it?
<
p>I think this idea of shifting people would be great except…
<
p>The inner city workers would be managed in some quasi-government manner and they would screw off and not be worried about getting fired. Second, I don’t think these kids want jobs. I have a house in Dennis on the cape and see the signs for HELP WANTED in many restaurants, hotels, retail stores and the kids from Dennis aren’t jumping at those jobs. But you don’t have to go to the cape. Go to any Dunkin Donuts in any city or town in the state and see how many “anglos” are working there. Why aren’t there red haired freckle faced 17 year olds pouring coffee? They must have to truck in the workers at the coffee shiops in my town since they certainly aren’t local yocals.
<
p>So… sadly, I don’t think matching this “need” with this “supply” would work. On that note I’m surprised the government hasn’t tried it since almost everything they do fails. Maybe they will try it after all.
I’m all for the plan to help unemployed youth and young adults, but to do so at the expense of over 7000 skilled workers who have been pushed out of a job by congressional inaction is just plain wrong. Having a new set of unskilled workers cycle through every year would not replace the people that have are the core of restaurant business on the cape. A youth program could supplement that, and it would be better to be youth that really need the work instead of the kids that can already afford to live there for the summer, but it would be both ineffective and immoral to cut out a quarter of the work year for thousands of families.
Are US kids too stupid to learn how to wait a table, bus a table or seat people? My daughter worked summers at the 99 and somehow she managed to survive without being fired and never once delivered a lobster when someone order the chicken picatta.
<
p>My comments though say this would never work but for different reasons.