Boston teens are getting back to work following the pandemic-era lull, officials said, with over 7,000 jobs offered through the city’s Youth Summer Jobs program reportedly filled.

“This summer, our goal was to connect 7,000 young people with a summer job opportunity, really with the hopes of providing really tangible skill development, work readiness and useful experiences,” said Rashad Cope, director of the city’s Department of Youth Engagement and Employment.

“We’re still counting some numbers across our ecosystem, but our early numbers indicate that we have reached our goal. So that’s exciting milestone,” he added.

This year, the city invested over $18 million in the SuccessLink Youth Jobs program, which subsidizes and connects young people between 14 and 24 years old with jobs within city agencies, nonprofits and other organizations.

Officials marketed the program going into the summer as measurably beneficial to teen’s employability, networking, safety, academic success and other metrics.

Last year, the city offered about 6,000 jobs through the program, but only filled approximately 3,500.

Youth jobs were hit hard by the pandemic, said Neil Sullivan, the executive director of Private Industry Council Executive Director, but this summer’s success indicated the city is “well on our way to full recovery.”

“We’re really able to imagine summer after summer young people starting in subsidized community-based employment and then moving up to employer-paid internships in health care, in financing, technology, life sciences,” said Sullivan. “And really imagined realizing our ambition for a summer jobs career pathway.”

This year the city expanded opportunities with initiatives like the grant-making model offering $13 million in grants to partner organizations recruiting young people and the Learning-Hiring program allowing students to work in higher education and earn college credit, especially within STEM fields, Cope said.

The “strong labor market” this year meant employers had to compete for young workers, Sullivan said. Retail stores like Target, he cited, are paying young employees $17 an hour and offering more hours a week.

For many students in the program, Sullivan said, their income contributes to their family income, and this market allows them both financial and career opportunity choices.

“Every employer is talking about how strong the young people, how productive the young people were this summer,” said Sullivan, citing conversations at closing ceremonies for the program at workplaces across the city.

Going forward, Cope said, the focus is on improving job offerings “to ensure every young person in the city is exploring careers and exposed to various occupations and industry.”

“This was a foundational year for a bigger, stronger summer jobs program in 2024 and beyond,” Sullivan said.