U.S. teen summer jobs to hit record low below even 1949 levels

ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES — United States employers are projected to add only 790,000 teen jobs in summer 2026 — a 77-year record low that undercuts even 1949 figures — as AI automation, older workers competing for seasonal roles, and inflation shrink the entry-level job pool, according to a new analysis from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

AI and older workers displace teen summer hires

“These are all areas of the economy that typically have a big surge of work in the summers, but it’s been an area that we’ve not seen hiring robustly, so we think that’s going to hurt teenagers,” said Andy Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

The 790,000 projection falls below the 801,000 recorded in summer 2025 — itself a record at the time — and below the 932,000 logged in 1949.

Hiring plans for entertainment and leisure — the industries that account for the largest share of teen summer employment — fell 70% from this point last year, dropping from 28,000 announced positions to just 8,261. 

Restaurants, retailers, and amusement businesses have increasingly turned to scheduling software, kiosks, and AI customer service tools to cover work that once went to teenagers.

Supply and demand are both falling simultaneously

Challenger said the record low reflects a structural shift on both sides of the market. “We are seeing lower participation in the workforce from teenagers, so it’s a combination of lower supply of those jobs and less demand from teenagers wanting summer positions,” he said.

One in five people ages 65 and older participated in the labor force as of April 2025, directly competing with teens for seasonal work.

Persistent inflation and elevated oil prices are compressing budgets at restaurants and retailers, reducing headcount in the sectors that drive teen hiring.

The 790,000 projection would be the lowest since Bureau of Labor Statistics data began in 1948 — meaning 2026 represents not a cyclical dip but a structural floor set by automation replacing the roles young workers have historically filled first.

The disappearing teen summer job is a leading indicator for BPO. Automation is absorbing the entry-level service and retail roles that once gave young workers their first exposure to customer interaction and scheduling — the baseline that BPO operators historically assumed new hires would arrive with. 

Providers that treat onboarding as an accelerated substitute for that missing developmental layer will recruit and retain more effectively as experience gaps become structural.