In response to the growing unemployment of high school graduates, the Macon-Bibb County Office of Workforce Developments reinforced the Summer Teen Work Program. This provides practical internships for teens during summer time which can improve their work aptitude and gain work experience.

The workforce program is federally funded; receiving an assistance of $632,000 from federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act paying about $8.50 per hour for 334 high school and college students to work internships ranging from Captain D’s to River Edge Behavioral Health Center.

Workforce Development had been helping high school and college students since 1998 in providing summer employments for student self-sufficiency which is very essential to Bibb’s low employment rate and competitive job hiring’s. The department also enabled adults to land jobs despite of the competitiveness.

These allowed teens in their enjoy working in their respective interest and gaining helpful knowledge upon doing their summer jobs. This also assists the government particularly in the workforce by saving up extra expenses of hiring non-student workers.

Testimonials from recent student workers support the efficiency of the said program. Students dedicatedly mention the quality work experience they gain from the summer job compared to other work like selling clothes or video games.

The said source of the financial assistance could be affected negatively this year by the current fund shifts. But the administrator strongly claimed that such student financial support shouldn’t be left behind considering the benefits of the program and pointing that paychecks earned by the students (which come from the state) will be cycled back to the economy through student spending.

For the last summer, the program employed 600 high school and college students but sadly due to the funding shifts, the prospective summer workers could be cut down to half this year. If not with the Department of Family and Children Services, there won’t be a program for the said year.