Finding it hard to land that summer job? You’re not alone.
Competition is stiff this year for summer employment and teens and adults alike are struggling to earn a paycheck.
"Since the economy’s down older people are applying for jobs that younger people would normally have, so when younger people are applying for those jobs, the openings aren’t there," Farmington High School senior Mark McKenna said.
Many people who had summer jobs last year are often holding on tight to them and planning on coming back this season.
At Winding Trails Day Camp in Farmington, of the 100 counselors who worked last year, 96 returned to work this summer. That's not good news for the nearly 100 new applicants.
Lake Compounce also saw an increase of people looking for employment this year. A March job fair drew four times as many applicants as they had just a few years ago.
"We probably had about a 1,000 (applicants) and we did hire about a 1,000, however a lot of that number were people who had worked previously and had already signed on here," Lake Compounce director of marketing Sara Webb said. The amusement park in Bristol is still looking to fill a few positions.
