Jacqueline R. Barrett

Finding a good job is increasingly difficult – especially for young people. Globally, young people are up to four times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Furthermore, the lack of opportunity can have devastating consequences for their long-term employment outcomes. Youth often lack the skills and competencies that are in high demand from employers, but they also face information gaps about which relevant skills they should signal to prospective employers.

On June 30, 2021, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed an approximately $40 billion state budget package. In exchange for increased funding for public schools in the state budget, Governor Wolf agreed to repeal Pennsylvania’s new overtime regulations, which were set to increase the minimum salary that employers must pay to certain salaried employees to classify them as exempt from overtime requirements under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act of 1968.