As the economy continues to worsen, so does the teenage job market. More and more adults are losing their jobs and having to apply for the jobs that are normally filled by high school students.

“Because of the economy, not only is no one hiring, but a lot of jobs are being given to the adults and college students who have more experience and flexible hours,” senior Chase McElhaney said.

Jobs right now are scarce, and as a result, they are being given out to those most qualified.

College students and adults have flexible hours and job experience that the average high school student does not.

“My age has been a disadvantage because my employment history is blank, so compared to other people with previous jobs, I am less experienced,” McElhaney said.

Teenagers are busy with school during the day and extracurricular activities and homework at night.

This leaves hardly any time for a job except for on the weekends.

There are only so many jobs that can be given out for those hours.

“I applied to HyVee towards the end of the summer, and they said they weren’t going to hire any high school students until all of the college students had turned in their applications because they were going to give them jobs first,” senior Ally Koppes said.

Unless high school students have insider connections on a job, it is extremely difficult for many high school students to even get an interview.

“Mr. Hernandez, aka: my soccer coach, is best friends with the manager of Montana Mikes, and so he got me the hook up there,” junior Marley Sutter said. “Without my connections, I most likely would not have my job. When I was getting interviewed, my manager pulled out a huge stack of applications of people who had applied and basically told me I was lucky I knew Mr. Hernandez.”

However, there are very few high school students with these types of connections; therefore the competition among high school students and adults has risen.

“Sometimes high school students don’t have as good time management like college students and don’t plan ahead and look ahead in the program,” Hyvee Human Resources Manager Twilla Brown said. “I see in high school students’ situation it’s not the students who have something that comes up last minute, but the school and faculty.”

Whether it is the lack of flexibility in high school students’ schedules or their lack of job experience, the number of working teenagers is decreasing.

“When I tried to apply for jobs I was seventeen, but now that I’m 18, I feel I have a better chance of getting hired because I am considered an adult,” McElhaney said.