SUMMER STARS

Students Are The Secret Weapon Driving The Workforce

As Americans have returned to enjoying postpandemic normality including travel, attending ballgames and other summer traditions, employers all over the country—and especially in resort areas like Hilton Head Island—are banking on a secret weapon to meet the surging demand: high school and college students.

According to data provided by Gusto, a payroll process for small businesses, students make up nearly one in five summer hires this year. While the overall economy may be slowing and adults sidelined by the pandemic have returned to work, students—specifically those seeking summer employment—have flowed back faster, attracted by higher pay and a desire to get out of the house after enduring remote classes and other COVID-related restrictions. The hearty student workforce benefits restaurants, amusement parks, hotels, malls and other businesses, allowing them to maintain longer hours and provide faster and better service to consumers.

Students ages 15 to 22 are expected to make up 18 percent of all summer hires, according to Gusto, up from just two percent in 2019, before the pandemic began. That’s partly because it is summertime, and there are disproportionately more jobs in restaurants, hotels, amusement parks and stores. But even within the “personal services” category, students are set to make up 26 percent of all hires, up from 21 percent a year ago.

TheDepartmentofLaborreportsthatthenumber of 15- to 22-year-olds working or job hunting spiked at about 37 percent in 2022, the highest since 2009. During July of 2022, students in the workforce crested at almost 47 percent, a figure that is projected to be surpassed in 2023.

These numbers are largely fixed in higher pay, with the average national wage for 15- to 22-year-olds projected to reach $14.56 per hour this summer, up nine percent from a year ago, according to Gusto. Pair this with the fact that it’s less expensive to hire this demographic than 25- to 54-year-olds.

On Hilton Head Island, SERG Restaurant Group has hired 490 high school and college students (ages 14-22) to work at its restaurants. “This makes up 39 percent of our active team members,” said Jordan Norris, SERG director of Human Resources. “We tend to staff up around nine percent of our workforce for season, seven percent of which are student-age employees.”

She partly attributes the influx of student job candidates to the perks of working in a resort town and for a company such as SERG. For example, as a server, the average amount of tips per night across all SERG locations is $280+/- (based on the sample data tested). That’s healthy pay in the low-cost state whose minimum wage still matches the federal pay floor of $7.25 an hour.

“Students earning this kind of money for mostly parttime work is a lot for someone that age, and word gets around,” Norris said. “The SERG Restaurant Group also offers great benefits and perks, especially for our student team members. The SERG College Savings Plan is a great way for students to work in our restaurants and earn money to assist with their tuition/books. We will match $1 for every hour worked with the company. They can start saving while they are in high school and ‘cash out’ when they are heading off to college or after each summer.”

We had a chance to interview some of these hardworking students who’ve made our island summer a little more spectacular with their drive, commitment, and work ethic, and we’d like to introduce you. Meet our Summer Stars:

Ayanna Lee The Ice Cream Cone Server

Ayanna Lee is originally from Sacramento, California, and her family moved to Hilton Head in 2020 when she was 12 years old. She currently works at The Ice Cream Cone in Coligny Plaza. She’ll soon be a sophomore at Hilton Head Island High School where she is a cheerleader for the Sea Hawks—which is how she got her job.

“Pete and Megan Savarese own the shop, and Megan is my cheer coach,” Lee said. “She suggested I get a job at the Ice Cream Cone over the summer.”

Working the ice cream counter is Lee’s first ever job and one that she knows will help her in the future.

“I’m learning very important communication skills as part of my job is to engage and talk to all sorts of people,” she said. “Being in an environment where I work with older kids and adults has forced me to step a bit outside my comfort zone and earn a greater level of respect. I’m also making great connections.”

In college and beyond, Lee realizes the social skills she’s honing now will enable her to work on a team and keep cool under pressure when the intensity and adrenaline are high. “I deal with the pressure of working in a busy shop by reminding myself that I’m not the only one here,” she said. “I have people behind me supporting me, and I’m not working alone.”

For the rest of the summer, Lee plans to continue working at the ice cream counter and enjoy some traveling—back to California to visit family and cruising to the Bahamas. Once school starts, her goal is to keep her grades high, graduate as valedictorian of her class, and get into medical school, after which she’ll become an anesthesiologist or a surgeon.

While Lee enjoys meeting people on vacation from all around the U.S. and serving ice cream to happy children, her favorite part of the job is hanging out with her coworkers and eating all the brownie batter ice cream she wants.

Abby Babcock Nectar Farm Kitchen Server

Abby Babcock was born in New Jersey but moved to Hilton Head with her parents and two siblings when she was two years old. “I have an older brother and younger sister, and we grew up here and all attended public elementary, middle, and high school on the island,” Babcock said.

She is also a June 2022 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she earned two degrees: criminal justice/criminology and sociology.

Babcock’s summer job is at Nectar Farm Kitchen, part of the SERG Group, where she is a server.

“Nectar is an all-day restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love working in the mornings,” she said, “so I was kind of looking at restaurants with strong breakfast crowds. I literally walked into Nectar Farm Kitchen right when I came home from school and asked if they were hiring. When I told them I could work on Saturdays, they asked when I could start, and I’ve been there ever since.”

Her favorite part about working at Nectar Farm Kitchen is the people she gets to work with. She also enjoys working the early shifts, so that she can finish by early afternoon and have the rest of the day to herself to enjoy island life.

Nectar Farm Kitchen isn’t Babcock’s first venture into the workforce, though. She’s been working since she was 14 years old—mainly to buy her first car. For three years, during summers and school, she worked at a local T-shirt shop. Next, for three summers, she was a barista at a coffee shop. Last summer, she worked at both the coffee shop and at the SandBar Beach Eats in Coligny Plaza.

“The same person owns both places,” she explained, “so I was able to enjoy the variety of working a couple of