Big shortfall in job hunt

Press, 25 February 1983, Page 7

Big shortfall in job hunt

Although the Student Job Search Centre found 2116 jobs for Christchurch tertiary students this summer, there was a big shortfall. ' Between 500 and 600 students were registered unemployed throughout the holidays. Less than half the jobs found were full-time, lasting eight weeks or more, a job search co-ordinator. Mr Jim Gillies, has said. About 50 per cent of the jobs lasted less than three weeks. Mr Gillies said that the job search was successful, however, because it found most of the work available. “There would have been very few jobs that were possible that we did not turn up." he said. The shortfall meant that there was a need for a subsidised work scheme to provide another 500 to 600 jobs in Canterbury. “My personal opinion is that there should be an extra subsidised scheme," he said.

Such a scheme should not be entirely Government-sub-sidised, and should have strict criteria to ensure that it was a last resort for students who could not find jobs. Fewer students sought work through the centre than had been employed last summer by the Student Community Assistance Programme, which was abolished last year. Mr Gillies said that this implied that there were students who would take subsidised jobs who would not otherwise work. "These would be the children of rich parents or others who could rely on other means," he said. The job search was funded by a $9500 grant from the Community Employment Initiatives Fund. Three co-ordinators at the centre at the University of Canterbury have worked since last September with several field workers to find jobs for tertiary students.