Brian White, a rising senior at Westinghouse High School in Homewood, spent part of Thursday morning teaching a software engineer and a game developer how to play the board game “Jobopoly.”
Mr. White, 17, of Lincoln, had filled out a job application in school this spring, thinking he would be working in a park or on a construction crew. Instead, he is spending four hours a day in the Simcoach Games offices in the Strip District, helping to develop ideas for a Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board video game to teach the concepts of professionalism to young people.
He is one of nearly 2,000 young people who are spending their summer in the new $4.3 million Learn and Earn program run out of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, a federally funded nonprofit agency that was created as part of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
In a tight job market, teens are often the last people to get jobs.
Back in the 1970s and up into the beginning of this century, more than half of the population aged 16 to 19 across the country worked. That participation in the labor force was first knocked down in the aftermath of the 2001 recession when the rate fell to about 44 percent.
The aftermath of the Great Recession dragged the numbers down even farther. In June, just 34.3 percent of working-age teenagers nationally were in the labor force. Pennsylvania teenagers have maintained a higher representation in the workforce, hitting an annual low of 40.4 percent in 2013.
For teens who want to work, the jobs can be hard to get. Teenagers have a national unemployment rate of 18.1 percent.
Mr. White’s job at Simcoach Games is a complete change from his summer job last year, when he was working for the Student Conservation Association installing rain barrels.
In Jobopoly (a take-off of Monopoly), the object was to go around the board, earning enough money to purchase clothing needed for the job the players eventually get. Mr. White was playing the game with another member of his design team, Ron Poole, 21, of Sheridan.
Another player, Hao Fu, 26, of Mt. Lebanon, a game developer for Simcoach Games, found himself in jail but rolled doubles to get out. Software engineer Patrick Sharbaugh, 28, wound up paying $500 for a pair of socks.
This is not the summer job of generations past.
The Learn and Earn program, which is open to economically disadvantaged youth, brings together young people ages 14 to 21. They are enrolled in workforce readiness training, which teaches some of the soft skills of working, and they are given a part-time summer job.
Stefani Pashman, the executive director of the board, said some of the participants are working for the city, some for the county and some for private businesses. Participants are paid through the Workforce Investment Board for about 30 hours of work a week.
Deputy County Manager Barb Parees, who oversees the summer workers as part of her job, said the county is still sorting out how many jobs they have filled.
The young people who applied are also hedging their bets. Some let the county know they have found other jobs; others just don’t show up.
In the recent years, Ms. Parees said, federal workforce money has been focused on serving a smaller contingent of youth but keeping them working all year. This year a push from both the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to augment their funding with money from foundations and corporate grants allowed the summer aspect to expand.
“Summer jobs allows youth in our community to learn basic skills so that they are prepared to enter the workforce,” County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.
“While a paycheck is always important, youth who participate in the summer jobs program also develop work skills, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, establish networking opportunities and positive relationships, can find mentors, try out an industry, get experience and develop their own interests and strengths.”
The Learn and Earn program has three tiers: one for younger teens who are just trying out their first job, so they are cleaning vacant lots or beautifying public spaces. The second tier gets a different job experience, such as learning a trade or working in health care, Ms. Parees said. The third tier is corporate internships.
Ken Smith, president of Simcoach Games, said the 25 young people who have internships in his company through Learn and Earn range in age, with the younger people having less responsibility and the other interns working in programming.
Having that many young interns can be a little challenging. Korey Smith, who is running the Simcoach Games internship program, said a few young people are uncomfortable giving presentations. There’s also the additional challenge of putting 13 teenagers in a conference room and trying to keep them on task.
The company was already working with the workforce investment board to develop a game about time management. They are working with the interns to develop other workforce-related games.
For the soft skill of dressing for work, the interns developed Jobopoly. Another group has come up with a card game in which participants pick cards with items of clothing on them and then have to put together an outfit to win. A third group came up with a music video.
Mr. Smith said the input from the youths is key, because they are telling the game designers how they would like to be approached.
Ann Belser: abelser@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699
First Published: July 12, 2015, 4:00 a.m.