Employers unhappy over wage round

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 6

Employers unhappy over wage round

PA Wellington Most employers believe the wage round will reduce profits and lead to staff not being replaced, says the Employers’ Federation. In a survey of 600 employers, respondents said the effects of the wage round would be: • A decline in profits—B3 per cent. • A no staff replacement policy—s 4 per cent. • Lower turnover—4o per cent. • Fewer hours worked—--36 per cent. • Redundancies—22 per cent. Results over the last year were:

• The main constraints on business were domestic demand, 50 per cent; skilled labour, 47 per cent; interest rates, 69 per cent. • Profits increased, 31 per cent; stayed constant, 33 per cent; decreased, 36 per cent.

• Staff numbers increased, 28 per cent; stayed constant, 42 per cent; decreased, 30 per cent. The survey was organised by the federation’s communications director, Mr Alan Emerson, who said one surprise was the depth of anti-Govemment feeling. “The Government policy of removing import licensing will ultimately destroy our business as it exists in

manufacturing,” said one response. Other employers cited their problems as: “The time spent answering Government correspondence, the ability of Government departments to make decisions, Government paper work, fringe benefit tax and the coming goods and services tax, the high cost of complying with Government regulations in our industry, cost escalation out of control, led by Government charges (natural gas, power, transport) and interest rates.” Other issues raised were: 9 Poor productivity from workers, compulsory unions. • Bad debts increasing,

general lack of confidence in the economy. • Australian exchange rate hurting exports. • The wage round negotiated was too high...some other incentives to medium to top workers must be found. • Shortage of skilled labour. One employer said: “The future requires all New Zealanders to increase productivity dramatically. We can then move from being a country with low wage rates and high unit labour costs (labour costs per each product made) to one with high real wage rates and low unit labour costs. Our future will then be assured.”