Teenage employment

I disagree there isn't a lot of employment for teenagers in the UK. There are many jobs young people can do, and get, quite easily. I would say those who struggle to find work, are mostly either lazy or have got on the wrong side of the law and find it hard because of their record. Most Young People have access to the internet and so there is no excuse for not being able to find jobs. Many young people even use the internet to their advantage and make money from it :D

I can tell you from experience that I know first-hand why companies don't want to hire teenagers. I spent some time in the restaurant industry. A couple of the places I worked hired a bunch of kids. It is hard to get teenagers to report to work on time. Often, when they do show up, they are suffering from hang-overs, or are so preoccupied with teeny-bopper life, they can barely do the job they are hired to do. Teenagers bring too much drama to the work-place. You can find teens who are hard workers, but they are few and far between. I would only hire teens if I really just needed a warm body to handle mundane tasks, simply because you can pay them less than older, more experienced workers who bring more skills to the table. I guess this is why a lot of grocery stores and fast food places hire teens to work. You don't need a whole lot of skill to bag groceries or flip burgers. As for manual labor, I would only hire teens if I couldn't find a ready supply of Mexican immigrant workers. The immigrants work twice as hard for less money, which is why construction and landscaping companies seem to favor them.

I disagree, I had no problems finding a job and learning and doing my college course while working I got the best of both worlds the education I needed and also the experience that employers look for, I think if you really want it the jobs are there to be had. I think older people struggle more for work for example it is cheaper to employ a teenager and teach them to do just what a 40 year old can do so they tend to do that I find which is why so many older people struggle if they for some reason find themselves out of work its difficult they are qualified but often over qualified which costs employers more money like I say cheaper to employ a teenager for a fraction of the cost but they still do the same work.