State Employment Agency: not enough summer jobs for everyone, including minors
A family reports that their 16-year-old, despite applying early for summer work, has still not found a job, suspecting age may be a barrier. Latvia's State Employment Agency confirms there simply aren't enough vacancies for all who want to work.
A Latvian family has raised concerns about a difficulty their 16-year-old son faced this summer. Although he applied early for a student summer job and actively sent out CVs to multiple employers, he has still not managed to find work.
The family suspects that his age may be the main obstacle, believing that employers tend to favor candidates who have already turned 18 over minors.
Agency's response
To find out whether these concerns are justified, the news portal Delfi contacted Latvia's State Employment Agency (NVA). The agency acknowledged that, overall, there simply are not enough available jobs during the summer to meet demand from everyone seeking work, whether they are minors or adults.
The broader question of whether minors genuinely have worse chances of finding summer employment than adult applicants, and under what circumstances an employer is allowed to give preference to an adult candidate, remains relevant for many families whose teenage children look for ways to earn money during the school summer break each year.
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