CLERICAL STUDY

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30147, 3 June 1963, Page 8

CLERICAL STUDY

Association Concerned

(NJ. Press Association; WELLINGTON, June 2. The Public Service Association is concerned that the clerical measurement survey proposed for Government departments may lead to unemployment

The State Services Commission had announced it was considering engaging a New Zealand firm of management consultants to undertake a clerical work measurement study in the Public Service. The commission said it had investigated results obtained in Australia and was confident the use of clerical work measurement could result in increased efficiency and reduced costs. The secretary of the Public Service Association (Mr D. P. Long) said yesterday that the organisation was “not favourably disposed” toward the' study. He said discussions with the State Services Commission might lead to modifications which would make it more acceptable. “We started off by being lukewarm about the idea, and since then we have become more firmly opposed to it,” he said.

“We don’t mind a situdy of work methods aimed at better efficiency, but we don’t like the idea of putting a rule over work put out by each individual,” said Mr Long. The acting chairman of the State Services Commission (Mr A. G. Rodda) said the decision on whether to engage a Wellington firm of

management consultants to undertake the study would probably be made within the next two or three weeks.