There is a sharp increase in the number of underage youth wishing to earn extra money in Belarus and Russia
Employment experts say there has been a significant increase in the number of minors willing to work over the past year.
The hh.ru resource, for example, has noted a threefold increase in the number of teen resumes since the beginning of the pandemic. But is it only about finance? “SOYUZ” discussed with specialists, parents and adolescents themselves new trends in the labor market for the youngest.
There are more teenagers who have started to earn money than statistics can show, because many find work in private. When distance learning in schools forced people to turn to tutors more often, the number of ads such as: “An excellent son for a small fee will improve your algebra skills sharply increased in social networks.” So came the finest hour of “nerds”. Others substitute couriers for their parents’ acquaintances. And they also walk dogs, take care of cats (even the word “cat-sitter” has appeared). They bake cakes. Knit toys. Make chatbots and logos. In a word, they find a huge number of ways to earn extra money by doing what they are good at and what they are passionate about in life.
Many are not averse to finding an official job, but fear the problems associated with this. “The daughter got a job as a seller only at 18 years old, before that no one wanted to get involved because of financial responsibility.” “I have no experience, hence the mistrust of employers. I distribute documents for my dad’s partners.” “Officially, it will be difficult to combine work and music school. I help a neighbor’s girl with solfeggio” …
Higher, unnecessary?
HR expert Elena Uvarova, Managing Partner at HrBiz, names two significant trends in the adolescent labor market. One of them, indeed, is the growth in the number of young people under 17 who want to work in their free time. Uvarova does not believe that the only reason for this desire is material.
– Parents of today’s adolescents, born in the 60s and 80s, often think that only with a completed higher education can they find a job. However, today a diploma does not guarantee employment at all. Moreover, people began to look not only for a stable job, but also a business to their liking. The search for purpose has become fashionable. Therefore, the “completed higher” is not so important as specific skills and the ability to adapt to the changing conditions of reality.
Experts call the second trend the withdrawal of young people online, including in search of earnings. After all, the Internet gave children the opportunity to work from the comfort of their homes. Now you don’t have to stand at the crossroads handing out advertising leaflets – you can typeset these leaflets while sitting at your computer.
The apparent ease of making money on the Internet gives adolescents overestimated inadequate expectations
– Social networks have given a lot of new professions, for example, blogger, SMM specialist, programmer, copywriter, – says Uvarova. – There is an opportunity to successfully realize yourself, even if you live in economically not the most favorable regions. Online customers can be found from all over the world.
True, not everything is cloudless: the apparent ease of making money on the Internet gives rise to high expectations in adolescents and distorts their picture of the world. Teenagers see how young stars are born out of nothing on the Internet with their fabulous income.
“They can earn millions without being experts in any field,” says Elena Uvarova. – Play computer games, review cosmetics, amaze with extravagant behavior. Being seduced by this beautiful picture on the Web, teenagers stop dreaming of more difficult professions.
Announce the entire list
Despite all the opportunities that social networks provide, the usual job sites remain one of the main ways to find a job. Today, the largest of them, hh.ru, has about 130 advertisements for teenagers in Moscow alone. Perhaps the nicest of the “young” vacancies that we managed to find sounds like this: “We need an electric scooter relocator! What will you do: walk around the city, ride our scooters, fix fallen scooters. Flexible schedule, salary from 90 rubles per hour . Available to applicants from 14 years old “.
But, according to statistics, the top common vacancies for young people do not look so perky. Career consultant Yulia Krasnoperova named the five most frequent requests. This is a courier, a promoter, distributing flyers, an online store manager, a content manager, a sales assistant. Krasnoperova advises, in addition to job sites, to connect employment centers and sites of companies of interest to the search. “You can also go around cafes, shops, workshops around your home, inquire about the availability of work, fill out questionnaires, leave contacts,” she says. And sometimes the job finds you where you applied … as a client!
“My niece, she is 16, is interested in biology,” says Dr. Tatiana from Nizhny Novgorod. – In April, she took her animals to the veterinary clinic, and later helped strangers. The doctor offered to officially work as an assistant. She likes…
What daddy signed
Not everyone is aware of the legal features of the employment of children. A teenager can work in Russia from the age of 14, and up to 15 requires the written consent of one of the parents and the guardianship authorities.
– An employment contract for a teenager under 14 is signed by a parent, – says Natalya Veretennikova, head of the Verikon legal company, public assistant to the Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child in the Republic of Tatarstan. – From the age of 14, adolescents are allowed to engage only in light work that does not interfere with the learning process.
There are 11 areas in Belarus in which teenagers can work legally
Minors cannot be assigned a probationary period, they cannot be sent on business trips, they cannot be recruited to work at night. – The working shift of children 14-15 years old cannot be more than 4 hours, 15-16 years old – no more than 5 hours, 16-18 years old – no more than 7 hours, – Natalia specifies.
Adolescents cannot be replaced with compensation for leave, and they are not allowed to be withdrawn from vacation. They choose the time of going on vacation themselves.
– The question is often asked: “So many difficulties, then why hire teenagers at all?” They are hired for simple jobs, where an adult would not go because of the low pay. So there is only an economic benefit, – Veretennikova believes.
The salary of adolescents – everything is like that of adults – depends on the field of activity and the region. A teenager’s earnings should not be less than the minimum wage, he is subject to income tax.
As for the salary of adolescents, then everything is like that of adults – it depends on the field of activity and the region. Photo: Olesya Kurpyaeva
And how in Belarus
Temporary vacancies for adolescents appear mainly in institutions of general secondary, vocational, secondary specialized education, additional education for children and youth, as well as in the district “Zelenstroy” and the zoo. There is an explanation for this: in Belarus there are restrictions on the types of labor activity of 14-16-year-olds. There are 11 such areas – adolescents can perform, for example, agricultural work: help with household chores in villages and private houses in cities, work in forestry and greening urban areas, provide services for cleaning territories, apartments, sorting, delivering mail, performing tasks using a computer.
Vacation employment information is widely available. Thus, the Minsk Center for Continuing Education for Children and Youth “ART” in each of the summer months intends to organize temporary places for 20 young people 14-18 years old, living and studying in the Pervomaisky district of the city. They are offered work in the repair and planting team. And in the Center for Technical and Artistic Creativity of Children and Youth of the Frunzensky District “Zorka” the project “Labor Summer” has already started. Students were invited to become members of secondary employment teams specializing in green building, creating souvenirs from flax fiber and performing work on a computer.
The amount of wages depends on the hours worked. Last year, in one summer month, minors who worked in the capital received an average of about 200 Belarusian rubles (about 5900 Russian rubles). In accordance with the legislation, the daily working hours of young people with a five-day working week during the summer holidays should not exceed 4 hours 36 minutes for adolescents from 14 to 16 years old and 7 hours for adolescents from 16 to 18 years old.
For the employment of young people, a referral to the work of the Citizens’ Service Department of the Employment Department, a passport or other identity document, a certificate confirming education in an educational institution, a medical certificate, a written consent of one of the parents (for persons aged 14 to 16), labor book (if any) and the actual application for employment.
There is also a practice of temporary employment of adolescents and young people for vacancies announced by employers. In Minsk, the state employment service monthly compiles a list of vacant jobs, which can be found on its website. Unfortunately, the range of offers is not very large – not all employers are ready to teach adolescents at their own expense, in order to part with them in 1-2 months in connection with the beginning of the school year, and also be responsible for them. Troubled! There are some pleasant exceptions, though. For example, in May in Minsk, minors could work as orderlies and maintain order in the premises of a polyclinic or try on the role of a seller in a grocery store. The offered salary in both cases is 400 Belarusian rubles (about 11,800 Russian rubles). The list of vacancies for the first summer month has not yet been made public.
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