As student workers return to school, jobs open up at Lincoln small businesses

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Red Panda Candy has been in the Gateway Mall for four years now.

The owner, Justin Richardson, said his business is doing well despite the annual loss of student workers leaving at the end of each summer.

Richardson said he had two of his four employees resign in the last two weeks, and this is a yearly trend.

He said it’s never easy to see trusted staffers go.

“Honestly, the breakup is not good on either side, from my employees and myself,” he said. “Because I can trust these guys exactly to run the operations like I would run it myself.”

One of his workers is returning to high school, while the other begins classes at Southeast Community College.

Richardson said he likes to hire students.

“Our clientele who come through our doors are actually young adults who are from high school, college-aged individuals,” he said. “So it seems like they resonate with the people who are coming in.”

Richardson said when employees leave, it doesn’t always mean the end of their partnership because many return as customers.

He prepares for the loss by publicizing the open positions on social media as soon as he can.

Richardson received a sweet surprise this time around, receiving more than double the number of responses than this time last year.

Richardson believes this spike is due to more people looking to make extra cash in a fun retail environment.

He also said many stores at the mall are beginning to hire holiday help, so it will help fill the deficit of student workers.