U of C Students’ Union says summer jobs are scarce
Posted Jun 2, 2023 2:24 pm.
Students are lacking provincial support to find summer job opportunities and this is causing significant stress, says the University of Calgary Students’ Association.
While summer is an exciting time for several reasons, young people are being weighed down by the uncertainty of the next few months, especially as it relates to their job prospects and financial situations.
The U of C Students’ union says “many students eagerly seeking employment opportunities are coming up empty, putting significant financial strain on those who planned to work over the summer to save money for tuition, textbooks and their living expenses.”
According to the association, one in five UCalgary students who were looking for a job over the past two summers were not able to find one.
Youth unemployment in the city sits around double the provincial average, it adds.
“Students’ costs have never been higher,” student union president Shaziah Jinnah Morsette said in a statement. “With historic inflation, record tuition increases, and a worsening housing crisis, a student jobs program is the bare minimum. Employers need workers and students need jobs.
“The Alberta government can’t tackle affordability without jobs programs for students.”
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The union explains the cancellation of the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) by the government in 2019 has had significant impacts on student employment.
STEP provided a wage subsidy to employers to incentivize the hiring of students during the summer and has yet to be replaced.
The students’ union says it has called on the provincial government to reinstate the program with no success
“Current provincial job programs do not include students in eligibility criteria, meaning students receive no help to find a summer job,” it adds. “Many employers simply can’t afford to hire summer students, but that could change with provincial financial support.”
To fill the gap, the U of C organization has created the Students’ Union Program for Education Related Work (SUPERWork) which provides a $1,000 wage subsidy award to a student who earns less than a competitive wage at a summer job related to their degree.
It says this lessens the financial pressure for students left to take lower-paying position.
But, it isn’t a long term solution, with the students’ union saying something has to change.
“Students can’t afford a fourth consecutive summer without work,” it writes.
