South Dakota leads in youth employment

But longtime employer warns work ethic softening

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

It’s long been a point of pride that Midwesterners in general – and South Dakotans in particular – have strong work ethics. 

People who are willing to put in long hours to get a job done. Indeed, the state’s ingrained work ethic is a selling point in economic development materials used to attract businesses. Just last month, when Gov. Kristi Noem announced a second round of her Freedom Works Here campaign, she wrote: “I have always believed that our state has a unique story of Freedom and work ethic that would inspire the nation if they could only hear it.”

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Part of that lore includes the notion that work ethic is built at a young age. According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this month, that is still the case.

The number of young people in South Dakota’s labor force far exceeds the national rate, according to the latest five-year measurement of characteristics of the U.S. population. The Census Bureau examines hundreds of features of the U.S. population – one of them being labor force participation.

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Among young people 16-19 in South Dakota, 53.5 percent participated in the labor force. Nationally, 39.3 percent of people in that age cohort spent time in the labor force. 

In Upper Great Plains states, South Dakota had the highest rate. The state was followed by: Nebraska, 53.3; Minnesota, 53; Wisconsin, 52.8; Iowa, 52.1; North Dakota, 51.3; Wyoming, 49.7; and Montana 48.8.

By comparison, the five most populated states had rates of: California, 31.1; Texas, 35.3; Florida, 35; New York, 30.4; Pennsylvania, 42.8.

Increasingly unprepared

But the data don’t tell the story of what’s happening on the ground when it comes to youth employment. Nationally and in South Dakota, the rate has trended downward for years. 

The Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Department has been forced to turn to older workers and bump up pay. And that’s even with Sioux Falls’ labor force rate for 16 to 19 year olds – 55.3 percent – even higher than the state’s.

Bruce Bettmeng and his wife, Pam, have owned B&G Milkyway since 1993, a landmark Sioux Falls restaurant company that relies heavily on youth labor during its operational months in the summer. Over a 30-year period, Bettmeng has watched the evolution of youth workers.

It’s gotten worse and worse, he says.

“I’ve got some great kids, but I think the work ethic is declining,” he said.

Bettmeng, 61, blames a culture in which parents pay for their children’s phones, gas and other indulgences. That has created a “false sense of what the world is,” he says, and some young people don’t think they have to work hard to earn a paycheck.

He estimates that he wouldn’t have hired half of his staff 20 years ago because they aren’t prepared to work.

“I used to hire people that I’d train for three days, and I wouldn’t have to talk to them the rest of the summer and they would be back for four years,” he said. Now, it takes longer to train people, and many employees will only work as much as it takes to cover their bills, making it harder to fill shifts at the end of a pay period.

Employers want to hire young people, he said, but they increasingly turn to immigrants or simply close, Bettmeng said. 

“That will come back to haunt us,” he said. “We might lead in that category, but we lead the nation in a lot of categories, good and bad.”