‘Blank looks’ about unemployment

Press, 9 August 1980, Page 12

‘Blank looks’ about unemployment

Wellington reporter

The Government and its officials “do not -know about the size of unemand do not want to know” about the size of unemeplbyment New Zealand would face in 1980-85, said an Auckland businessman who has promoted a scheme to reduce unemployment. “There is a huge gap between the realities of unemployment and job creation in New Zealand,” said the management services manager of I.D.A.P.S. Computer Science, (N.Z.) Ltd (Mr M. Beardsmore.)

"No-one seems to be doing anything to link this gap. Even if the economic situation comes right by the end of the decade, this gap will still be a major problem for the next 10 years.”

Mr Beardsmore has tried to interest officials and members of the Government in an employment strategy for the 1980 s. “Nothing in what I am advocating is new or original. It has been tried overseas and is working,” he said.

“But I am unable to interest anyone in the Government, and some senior officials just look blank. “I would not have minded being told my ideas were rubbish,-, but I find instead I am just talking to cotton wool.

“I want to create jobs by helping entrepreneurs to create jobs. But the people I have- spoken to cannot grasp the concept.” Mr Beardsmore believes that structural unemployment in the New Zealand economy was now a fact

of life. He wanted a national . strategy to be evolved as a matter of urgency, to maximise jobs and retraining opportunities. “Creating job opportunities is most appropriately achieved by the combination of public policy and private enterprise,” he said.

Throughout the Western world, job ~ opportunities, were not beig created by the big or multi-national firms. In the United States in the last five years, 85 per cent of all new jobs created had been in companies with fewer than 20 employees. If New Zealand • was serious about full employment it had unique opportunity to capitalise oh the twin factors of technology and . small business to create, jobs. “Even conservative estimates puV the number, ofjobs to be created at more than 300,000 in the next five years,” Mr Beardsmore said. "This will not be achieved by either ‘laissezfaire’ economic policies nor through the huge capital projects such as altir minium and energy which will not, of themselves, create this number of jobs. “The question is not whether New Zealand will survive economically . in the long-term but whether it can survive the social upheaval in. the short term,” he said. The key to this was the planned- creation of a maximum number of job opportunities and equal opportunity for all individuals, irrespective of their current education, to take advantage. Without a concerned effort to achieve this, and the blessing of the Government, the unions and the employers, the outlook was bleak, Mr Beardsmore said.

The outlook was for increasing unemployment, increasing resistence to new technology, and the vicious cycle of wealth for redistribution. He was alarmed at creeping unemployment in New Zealand, firms and industries dropping their twos and threes week after week.

The new technology, incontributing he said. The contributing e said. The insurance industry employed 10 per cent fewer people than five years ago, mainly because of computers. "Technology is making worse this creeping unemployment. This rate will at least be maintained in the future. This is quite tragic in individual human terms. “My plan looks to use technology to create work rather than just kill it. “In New Zealand the ‘ unions have done a lot of research on the new technology and are far better informed about it than most employers are,” he said. “The argument is hotting up and may well be an election issue. The long-awaited public debate on the impact of technology is about to break in New Zealand.” - < It was doubtful whether in the time available “the public” could be expected. ’to become informed adequately about the consequences. A The strong feeling : among concerned people in the computer industry was that time was a luxury New Zealand could not afford, Mr Beardsmore said. Nations which would be competitors in the 198Qs — Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil were all embarking on big programmes designed to’ maximise growth by using technology.