Hi Playmakers,

A post I shared this week about Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, struck a nerve online. I highlighted his very first job on LinkedIn: busboy. Before NVIDIA, before the billions, before reshaping the world of computing, he was clearing tables in a restaurant. The simplicity of that starting point resonated with people.

It reminded me of my own first job as a teenager working as a cashier at a hardware store in my small town. It was noisy, chaotic, and never glamorous, but it taught me how to talk to customers, solve problems quickly, and stay calm when the line wrapped down the aisle. I also experienced gender-based pay inequity for the first time in my life at the job, but that’s a story for another time.

Even though I was 16 years old, the lessons at my first job shaped how I work today far more than I realized at the time. They were fundamental to my maturity and responsibility in the workplace. But… what if you don’t learn those lessons?

Most teens today are not getting that same experience. Twenty years ago, most teens worked. Today, most do not. Teen labor-force participation has fallen from more than 52 percent in 2000 to around 36 percent today. It is one of the largest generational shifts in the labor market.

Yet we’re barely talking about it. So, I decided to look into it and here’s what I found:

The classic teen job disappeared.

Retail employment for 16 to 19-year-olds has fallen nearly 40 percent since 2000. Grocery cashier roles dropped sharply as self-checkout adoption continues to grow 14.5% per year. Mall retail employment is down about 50 percent since 2005, and seasonal retail hiring is the lowest it’s been in 15 years. The traditional entry-level jobs simply are not there in the same way.

School replaced work.

Full-time school enrollment rose significantly since 2000. Time spent on homework and academic activities increased about 30 percent since the early 2000s. During the same period, teen labor-force participation dropped from 52 percent to 34 percent in the mid-2010s, and now sits around 36 to 38 percent. Academic pressure became the default after-school activity.

Immigrant teens work more than American-born teens.

First-generation and immigrant teens are 15 to 20 percentage points more likely to work than their U.S.-born peers. In many urban areas, immigrant teen employment is nearly double. For many families, early work is part of the culture, not an optional resume builder.

Gig and online income replaced formal jobs.

About 30 percent of students earn money informally through tutoring, reselling, content creation, and other gig-style work. Only 19 percent hold a payroll job, while 29 percent report freelance or gig income. Teenage self-employment has increased about fourfold since 2000. These paths provide income, but they do not necessarily teach basic workplace habits.

Teens now enter adulthood with less real-world experience.

Research shows teens who work 10 to 15 hours a week earn about 20 percent more in their early 20s compared with those who never worked. They also have higher career earnings into their 30s. Soft skills like confidence, communication, and problem-solving consistently score higher among teens who worked.

When I look back at the hardware store, the skills I gained were simple, but foundational: how to stay calm when overwhelmed, how to talk to strangers, how to solve problems, how to be accountable when I made mistakes, and how to show up even when tired (or, yes, hungover). These were not teenage skills. These are life skills.

I think about these experiences a lot as I raise my son, Roman, in a changing world.

The reality is, I don’t think every teen needs a traditional job, but I do believe every teen needs real responsibility. The form can change. The function cannot. Teen jobs built grit for every generation before Gen Z. Now, unsurprisingly, as Gen Z takes up the mantle in the workplace, there are cultural clashes and complaints about work ethic abound.

Perhaps the antidote to a younger generation raised on screens and social media is the simplest one of all: a spatula and a burger patty.

So, here’s a fun ask this week: share your first job on LinkedIn and what it taught you (don’t forget to tag me!)

Jenny

P.S. Was this breakdown helpful? Make sure to forward it to colleagues and friends.

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Janice grew up in small-town North Carolina during segregation, one of 11 children learning from torn textbooks in underfunded schools. Her parents taught her two lessons that shaped her life: she was smart enough to learn anything, and she had a responsibility to leave things better for those who came after her.

Years later in Los Angeles, with just $900 borrowed from her mother, she launched a tiny staffing agency out of a storefront office. That company became ActOne Group, a global enterprise earning more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Meet Janice Bryant Howroyd, Founder and CEO of ActOne Group.

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist. It’s absurd to me that our society and economy is making it increasingly difficult for younger generations to succeed. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.

So this week’s challenge is a very specific one: give a young person advice, a leg up, or other opportunities to give them a leg up in our modern economy.

It’s simple. We have to make sure future generations have an opportunity to succeed. That’s the entire point… to make it easier for our children to succeed. To get farther than we got.

Let’s make a difference this week.

This week’s spotlight goes to my friend Nicole Rechtszaid. By day, Nicole heads up Creator Communications at Meta. By night, however, Nicole leads one of the biggest advocacy platforms for dog rescue in California.

Currently, Nicole is helping find fosters for a large-scale rescue of nearly 50 Dachshund mix dogs who were found in a field two weeks ago. This rescue effort is going viral with national attention due to the significant number of animals found.

Balancing an industry-leading career and focusing on large-scale animal rescue efforts is exactly the kind of work I want to highlight in Playmaker of the Week. And did I mention Nicole is a Gen Z, too?

If you can help Nicole, find out more below.

Want to be featured next?

Make sure to tag @Jenny Stojkovic on your post for a chance to be featured.

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The Wednesday Play isn’t just a newsletter — it’s a community. I’ll be announcing much more in coming weeks and months! For now, let’s connect across social.

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