ORLANDO, Fla. – College students hate AI. I mean, they love the fact that AI helps them with writing papers, creating study guides, and answering all sorts of absurd questions – no, college students hate AI because to them, AI is eliminating their entry-level jobs.
Don’t believe me? Just look at the recent wave of college students booing when AI was mentioned at commencement speeches at the University of Arizona, Middle Tennessee State University, and right here in Orlando at UCF.
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So if you’re a college (or high school) student and you’re looking for a summer job, will there be any to be found once school lets out?
The answer, according to CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger, is yes (AI has not ruined everything).
We spoke to Jill earlier this week about the outlook for jobs for teens – here’s the full transcript of our conversation:
WKMG-TV: Do you know a high school or college student looking for a job this summer? CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger is here with advice for teens looking for work and what they could do with the money they earn.
Jill, where are the jobs for young workers who need to earn money?
Jill Schlesinger: The classics, they are still out there lifeguarding, camp counselor, retail restaurants. But I wanna flag something that’s interesting: there are certain industries that have said they’re looking for workers: landscaping, moving companies, construction labor. These are areas that can pay a lot more than those traditional summer jobs.
Now there’s always gig work – delivery, babysitting, tutoring, or coaching, and maybe even working through a freelance platform like Fiverr or TaskRabbit. So there are certainly ways to hustle a little bit and make some money this summer.
WKMG-TV: And Jill, what do young workers need to know about taxes?
Jill Schlesinger: I think you need to explain to them, if you’re getting paid as a W-2 worker, that taxes are taken out of their pay automatically. This will, I think, ease the blow when they see that they’re depositing a little bit less into the account than they would have expected.
If it is a gig job, just remind them there’s going to be a 1099 form. That means that we’re going to have to tack on this income to pay taxes next April, and we’re gonna have to keep some money out of that paycheck to do just that.
WKMG-TV: And Jill, how can we encourage working teens to save for the future?
Jill Schlesinger: Well, in addition to the paying of taxes, I think you can say, let’s put aside 10% of your money and put it into a high-yield savings account. It’ll be there if you need it during the school year, and also to pay those taxes.
But it’s gonna be a little bit harder to get them to invest for retirement.
I think that there’s a way to do it. You can say let’s open a Roth IRA for you, because as long as they have earned income, even if they’re under the age of 18, they can open a Roth.
But the way you get them to do it is you say, we’re gonna put in a family match.
Maybe for every dollar you put into the account for the young worker, you say I’m gonna put 10 cents. 10 or 15 or maybe 25%. It just depends on what you can afford. It’s a great way to teach them about putting money away, getting a match, seeing it grow, and even if they are underage, or 18 or 21, a custodial Roth IRA is really a valuable way to teach about this. And when they get older, you just transfer the Roth into their own name.
Here’s one last little stat you can put into their laps. If you save $1,000 at age 16 and you just invest it and you don’t touch it, by age 60, it turns into 20 grand. That’s a pretty darn good number. So I think from $1,000 to $20,000 might get them to do it.
WKMG-TV: As usual, Jill, great advice.
You can see Jill regularly on CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News. For more analysis, go to JillOnMoney.com.