The teen unemployment rate in Virginia has increased significantly in the last five years.
New statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the teen unemployment here in Virginia has increased significantly over the last five years. In 2005, only 11.7% of teens in Virginia were unemployed. In 2009 that number doubled to 22.9%.
The reason behind this is that teens are now competing with adults for entry-level jobs and more often than not, teens are losing out.
Tommy Shields, 17, is learning about hydraulics at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Chesapeake.
It's something this high school drop out never thought about doing until he tried getting a job.
Tommy says, " The struggles to get that first job was actually really hard because I wanted to work construction or mechanicsÂ…both of them you have to be over 18 with some sort of permit or degree."
Instead of trying to fight to get a job, Tommy is getting help from K.R.A, a local workforce development corporation, which helps teens get the skills and the experience they need to compete.
K.R.A's spokeswoman Krista Roberson says, "What our program does is it introduces youth to those soft skills that employers are looking for in their workers-- we are teaching them how to interview-- resume writing-- filling out job applications."
Tommy plans on graduating from Aviation Institute of Maintenance in a year and a half.
New statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the teen unemployment here in Virginia has increased significantly over the last five years. In 2005, only 11.7% of teens in Virginia were unemployed. In 2009 that number doubled to 22.9%.
The reason behind this is that teens are now competing with adults for entry-level jobs and more often than not, teens are losing out.
Tommy Shields, 17, is learning about hydraulics at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Chesapeake.
It's something this high school drop out never thought about doing until he tried getting a job.
Tommy says, " The struggles to get that first job was actually really hard because I wanted to work construction or mechanicsÂ…both of them you have to be over 18 with some sort of permit or degree."
Instead of trying to fight to get a job, Tommy is getting help from K.R.A, a local workforce development corporation, which helps teens get the skills and the experience they need to compete.
K.R.A's spokeswoman Krista Roberson says, "What our program does is it introduces youth to those soft skills that employers are looking for in their workers-- we are teaching them how to interview-- resume writing-- filling out job applications."
Tommy plans on graduating from Aviation Institute of Maintenance in a year and a half.
