Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis Pushes Youth Summer Jobs
April 6, 2011
Rebecca Villaneda--HispanicBusiness
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U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
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U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis today announced a new website aimed at helping young Americans aged 16 to 24 to obtain summer jobs. The website is www.dol.gov/summerjobs.
Historically, the month of July is when youth employment peaks. According to Solis, the youth unemployment rate last year was at its lowest since 1948, at 19.1 percent.
More than 4 million young people were looking for work, she added.
The number of youth of color was higher, she said. The unemployment rate for young Hispanics is 22.1 percent. For African-Americans it is 33.4 percent, and for Asians it is 21.6 percent.
Recovery Act funds were available in 2009-10 to create summer jobs, but those funds have dried up.
"Without dedicated funding the summer of 2011 could provide few opportunities for these deserving young people," Solis said.
Solis recruited the help of elected officials, private corporations and nonprofits to facilitate summer jobs programs.
On board are John Stumpf, chairman, president and CEO at Wells Fargo Co.; Betty Amend, vice president for human resources at UPS; Bill Warren, executive director of DirectEmployers Association; and Susan Miller, corporate recruiting manager at Qwest Communications.
Stumpf announced that Wells Fargo will hire 1,000 college and MBA students to work at banks across the country for summer employment.
"I call it a triple win," Stumpf said. "First of all, our company wins. We learn so much from these young people. After all, they are our future customers, they see things differently in new ways that we now can appreciate. And most of all it is a win for the country. This country will be stronger if we get more people working. It's our most renewable resource."
Amend said UPS will hire 1,500 people for summer jobs in 71 locations around the country.
"We have a very strong promotion-from-within policy at UPS," she said. "The majority of employees that we do hire in these part-time positions are between the ages of 18 to 24 years old. This is a sweet spot for UPS. We look at this as a new recruiting source for us, working with the Department of Labor."
A Toyota representative said it was tempting to cut out summer recruitment considering conditions in Japan, but decided to go forward.
"We feel this is really important for our future and the future of the country as well as our own business. We are actually going to double the number of people that we've been doing," the Toyota representative said.
Solis said she also has the support of 26 mayors across the United States, including the mayors of Colombus, Ohio, and Boston.
"Summer jobs help to teach young people about possible careers, provide them with skills they need to be successful in the workplace," Solis said. "It can also have a very meaningful impact on their life, giving them a chance to understand that there are more opportunities with more education. All of that helps to formulate a better workforce for us here in America."
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2011. All rights reserved.
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