Local businesses struggle to find summer employees

RENO - Flipping burgers, hovering over the pool in a lifeguard's seat, ringing up purchases in a discount store. Typical summer employment for teens. But this is not a typical year.

With the Reno area's unemployment rate right around 2.4 percent, they're out for the jobs that pay some decent bucks or training that will pay dividends in the future.

''It is really tough right now,'' said Cynthia Bell, store manager at Ross Dress for Less. ''The competition is greater with unemployment being so low. We are having a hard time finding qualified employees.''

The store needs about five employees. Usually it hires teenagers to fill openings, but Bell said fewer young people have applied for jobs.

The city of Reno recreation department also is struggling to find workers.

''It is really hard to find part-time workers,'' said Kathy Lujan, city of Reno recreation director.

Childrens' camps and lifeguard jobs are usually hardest to fill. Lujan said the city is trying to deal with the problem by paying more and recruiting school teachers who aren't working during the summer.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 15- to 17-year-olds are less likely to spend the summer months serving shakes or standing behind cash registers.

Instead, they are signing up for summer school or filling slots in a rapidly expanding new industry of skill-building teen summer camps as a booming economy fills their parents' wallets.

The survey of 50,000 households nationwide, conducted by the Bureau of the Census, involved three-year sample periods, the latest being 1996-98.

Teens are thinking more about their futures according to Elizabeth Hite, a program specialist with Job Opportunities in Nevada. ''Older kids are looking for jobs that involve technology,'' she said.

Still, for some, scooping ice cream can still be a coveted summertime position.

A Swensen's Ice Cream Factory and Shoppe here has had more than enough applications, owner Rob Teddy said. The restaurant has about 12 teens on the payroll with 3 or 4 hopefuls dropping by each day.

For 17-year-old Kristi Boucher, working at Swensen's is a perfect summer job.

Boucher, who either wants to be a model or to go to culinary school, isn't worried about finding a so-called better job.

''It is really fun here. I like it a lot,'' she said.