Minimum wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona

[Regis Philbin]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0210biz-teenwork0210.html

New wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona

Employers are cutting back hours, laying off young staffers

Chad Graham
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 10, 2007 12:00 AM

Oh, for the days when Arizona's high school students could roll pizza dough, sweep up sticky floors in theaters or scoop ice cream without worrying about ballot initiatives affecting their earning power.

That's certainly not the case under the state's new minimum-wage law that went into effect last month.

Some Valley employers, especially those in the food industry, say payroll budgets have risen so much that they're cutting hours, instituting hiring freezes and laying off employees.

And teens are among the first workers to go.

Companies maintain the new wage was raised to $6.75 per hour from $5.15 per hour to help the breadwinners in working-poor families. Teens typically have other means of support.

Mark Messner, owner of Pepi's Pizza in south Phoenix, estimates he has employed more than 2,000 high school students since 1990. But he plans to lay off three teenage workers and decrease hours worked by others. Of his 25-person workforce, roughly 75 percent are in high school.

[db44]

Oh, no! No jobs for teens? Maybe this may encourage them to stay in school. I am curious if they are saying in high school, but mean of high school age?

Later in the article, it talks about kids who are *gasp* happy with the increase. Further, kids in learned positions were being kept and the one flipping burgers were the ones likely to be laid off... Saying they would look for jobs after high school. Again, I wonder if that means they've already decided not to go on with education.

[LesterX]

Where are your priorities, Dave? Jobs for teens are far more important than paying a living wage to those adult "losers" with families to feed who haven't moved up the pay scale.

[db44]

I don't know what came over me... Or why I voted to raise minimum wage here in AZ.

[Venisenvy]

I guess it makes sense, the other day I overheard my store manager complaining that he was way over budget for payroll and he had no clue what he was going to do. I do believe it is due to the recent minimum wage increase that happened at the beginning of this year. But I do believe it's up to the states to set the minimum wage and will completly support any state doing that, i think in the long run its for the best.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

That's business. Cost of doing it goes up and down, and you either roll with higher costs by doing without or you go under. It's not as if small business owners didn't see this coming at some point. Of course, the US government doesn't work that way so why doesn't it surprise me that small businesses or individuals would think that way?

As for the teens? As the article states, "teens typically have other means of support."