I started mowing grass and shoveling snow in the neighborhood when I was very young. Shortly thereafter I began looking after neighborhood kids. I worked a regular shift at my family’s drugstore. I later cleaned the meat room at a grocery store, cashiered at a retail outlet and tried my hand in an Elkhart factory.

I wasn’t alone. Many of my friends and classmates also entered the workforce at a young age — bagging groceries, flipping burgers, scooping ice cream, delivering newspapers or lifeguarding at the local pool. The opportunities seemed plentiful and we had many chances to try our hands at different things.

My chief objective in those assignments was to make a few dollars. As I got older, I realized I needed money for those things I was most interested in.

At the same time, I was learning many valuable lessons about being in the workforce that I believe have helped me be a better employee, co-worker and boss. My education in the classroom was important. But the education I was getting in the workforce was also critical.

I learned a lot about responsibility, about problem solving, about critical thinking. My employer and our customers were counting on me, and I didn’t want to let them down. I learned about working in teams and about getting along with co-workers. I got a feel for what I was interested in, and more importantly what I wasn’t. My future career interests were largely shaped by those early experiences.

My story is not unlike most from my generation. But our story is proving to be very different than today’s young people who are preparing to enter the workforce. Employment among those between the ages of 16 and 19 is at its lowest point in decades according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And BLS predicts it will continue to decline over the next decade.

Overall, the labor force participation rate among all ages is 62.6 percent. (The labor force participation rate is those people either working or actively seeking work). Among 16- to 19-year-olds nationally, that rate is now just 34 percent, down almost 20 percent over the past 20 years.

Locally, only about 28 percent of those 16- to 19-year-olds eligible to participate are actually participating. The demands of school, sports and other extracurricular activities contribute to the declining numbers. In addition, fewer employment opportunities exist today. Many of those positions traditionally held by young people were filled by older adults during the height of the recession.

Employers’ chief complaint these days is about the workforce and the lack of soft skills, those personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Many workers haven’t had the opportunities like I and others did when we were younger to develop those key skills in an entry level position.

Employers need to recognize the important role they play in the talent pipeline and once again make available entry level positions for young people seeking experience. Though youths may be raw in experience, their enthusiasm and exuberance as well as the fresh perspective from a new generation of worker can be an important asset for the company.

But the real responsibility lies with parents. Parents must encourage their children find a job to gain that valuable work experience. It doesn’t have to be glamorous or even in line with a student’s career aspirations, just something to give them those valuable life lessons. Young people have to start at the bottom and work their way up. Their long-term success and the long-term success of our economy depend on it.

Source: South Bend Tribune, July 6, 2016