Working age: demand for teenagers has increased in tech support and catering
The number of job offers for teenagers has increased one and a half to two times in several areas over the year, recruitment services told Izvestia. For example, minors have become more in demand as support specialists or cashier chefs, as well as couriers. At the same time, recent legislative changes that will allow teenagers to work on weekends and holidays during the summer holidays will not satisfy the personnel hunger now: the amendments will come into force only on September 1, 2025. But starting next summer, we should expect an increase in the involvement of teenagers in the workforce and an increase in the number of vacancies for them, experts believe.
What areas are teenagers looking for?
The demand for employment of candidates over the age of 16 has grown this year in several areas at once, recruitment services told Izvestia. The leader in the growth in the number of offers available to applicants over the age of 16 has become the profession of a support specialist — the number of such vacancies in the first half of 2025 doubled compared to last year, according to Avito Jobs data.
"A candidate for this position is usually expected to be able to answer according to ready-made templates and, if necessary, send the question further to a technical specialist. This kind of work does not require in—depth knowledge, so it is great for students who want to try themselves in the field of customer service," the service experts explained.
As a rule, working in this position provides an opportunity for part-time employment, they noted. In addition, teenagers over the age of 16 were one and a half times more likely to seek positions as cashier chefs in catering establishments. The demand for young couriers and postmen increased by 15-18%.
"Couriers are especially in demand in food delivery services, and postmen are most often required to deliver letters, newspapers, and flyers to mailboxes. Flexible schedules and quick payments are often assumed for such employment formats — this is great for teenagers," the experts noted.
On average, this year, employers are posting about 5,000 vacancies per month, available to applicants over the age of 16, the press service noted. hh.ru . On the eve of summer and the high season, the number of such vacancies increased by 10% and reached 20,000, they added.
— The median salary offered for applicants over the age of 16 has currently reached a range of 25,000 to 33,000 rubles per month. In annual terms, the proposed revenue increased by 8%, the service added.
Most often, job openings for teenagers are placed by employers from retail, transport and logistics, IT and marketing, catering and sales. Schoolchildren aged 14-16 are most often offered jobs as couriers, promoters, client managers, call center operators, gardeners, sales consultants and waiters.
— Students can count on a wider range of specialties — professions such as bartending or barista are already available to them, since employees over the age of 18 can work with alcohol, round-the-clock vacancies, as well as professions in manufacturing, construction and other specific industries in which there are a number of restrictions on employment for schoolchildren, — emphasized in The press service hh.ru .
Teenagers are most often looking for jobs as packers or order pickers, sales consultants, sales floor workers, couriers, call center operators, baristas or waiters, as well as promoters, the SuperJob service reported.
What will change in the law
The demand for teenagers in the labor market will continue to grow, including due to legislative changes, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. So, starting from September 1, 2025, the new law will allow teenagers from 14 to 18 years old to work on weekends and holidays during the summer holidays.
New legislative opportunities will create additional conditions for employment in the summer, and businesses will be helped to quickly close vacancies during the peak demand season, especially in industries such as hospitality, retail and logistics, said Roman Gubanov, Director of Development at Avito Rabota.
"The current growth in offers for children over the age of 16 indicates that employers are ready to expand the boundaries of hiring and attract young employees to a wide variety of fields, training them to meet the needs of the business," he believes.
Thanks to this innovation, the legal vacuum in which many employers were during the summer season disappears, explained Olivia Livingston, lawyer, head of the Law and Sport Research Center.
— Until now, any involvement of a person under the age of 18 to work on an official day off, even with the full consent of the teenager and his legal representatives, was a direct violation of the law with all the risks of administrative responsibility. Now, the legislator provides business entities with a legal instrument," she told Izvestia.
This will make it possible to legalize a huge layer of previously existing informal labor relations in resort regions, in the field of catering, retail trade and services, the lawyer believes. The innovation, according to her, applies only to summer holidays, but autumn, winter and spring holidays are not covered by it.
— The entry into force of the law on September 1, 2025, by the irony of legislative calendar logic, postpones its practical application. The summer holidays of 2025 will have already ended by this time. Therefore, the first practical season for the application of the norm will be the summer of 2026," Olivia Livingston said.
At the same time, all other guarantees for underage employees remain in place. Thus, the working time should be no more than 24 hours per week for employees under 16 years of age and no more than 35 hours for employees from 16 to 18 years of age.
Why do employers need teenagers?
Attracting young employees makes it possible to cover the seasonal and project needs of companies efficiently and at low cost, business representatives explained to Izvestia.
As a rule, interest in attracting teenagers increases in the summer due to the shortage of employees, said Elena Kiselyova, an analyst at the Institute for Integrated Strategic Studies.
At the same time, during the warm period, the revenue of cafes in shopping malls and parks increases, as a rule, by 15-25% relative to the off-season, and in e-commerce in the summer, up to 10-12% of additional turnover is recorded, added Dmitry Tselishchev, managing director of the investment company Rikom-Trust.
— If a teenager on a short shift speeds up the service and allows you to take at least 10-15 additional orders per day in a cafe or process 50-70 parcels in a warehouse, this gives additional revenue in the amount of 3-5 thousand rubles per shift. With the direct cost of paying him 1-1.2 thousand rubles, the economic effect is positive, even if you take into account the cost of mentoring and medical examination," he calculated.
According to the expert, teenagers in the summer are not a cheap replacement for adult employees, but rather a tool for flexible coverage of seasonal peaks.
— In production or in processes with a long period of training, they do not provide economics, but in retail, service sector, delivery they create a net advantage, — the expert noted.
Businesses also see a social mission in attracting teenagers to work.
— It is difficult to talk about a serious economic effect for business, we consider it rather as an opportunity to help teenagers decide on career guidance and earn their first money, — said Anton Baksaraev, CEO of Vector Project architectural design company.
The growing number of vacancies and opportunities to find temporary jobs makes work and independent earnings more popular among young people, says Alexander Krivosheev, CEO of the image agency PRIX Club. In addition, it distracts young people from the influence of destructive subcultures, especially in disadvantaged areas.
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