<p>Beliavsky–again, companies are NOT going to hire 16-17 year olds for full time positions when they are not legal adults–diploma or not. Sure, they can probably work full time at McDonald’s as long as they aren’t in high school, but they certainly are not going to be able to work at a machine shop, or as a mechanic, or any other tech type job. There are labor law issues at play here.</p>