‘Minders’ for jobless youth in pilot plan

Press, 29 July 1986, Page 6

‘Minders’ for jobless youth in pilot plan

By

GLENN HASZARD

A small group of mainly young unemployed people in Christchurch have been linked with “minders” who will help them find jobs — and keep them. The “clients” are ordinary young men and women who like so many others have been caught by circumstances and may need some support to prevent their becoming disillusioned, despondent, withdrawn and perhaps give up even looking for a job. The scheme is being promoted and organised by and for the Employment Action Business Alliance, formed after the economic summit of September 1984. If the

scheme in Christchurch is successful it will be a model for the rest of New Zealand. The campaign director for the alliance is Mr Brian Lee, formerly South Island manager of A.H.I. Plastic Extrusion Company (now Carter Holt Harvie). His former company is supporting him part-time as campaign director, and he has a budget coming mainly from a grant by the community employment initiatives’ fund of the Labour Department. His office is provided by Trusteebank Canterbury. About 15 “minders” have been chosen and have had some training. They range from a 24-year-old female credit

controller to a group divisional manager in his 40s. About eight people registered as unemployed at the Riccarton office of the Labour Department have volunteered to become "clients” who will receive help from the “minders” one-to-one. Mr Lee says it does not follow that there will necessarily be a job for the client just because a "minder” is available to help. But some employers had reported that they had had difficulty filling vacancies. There were sometimes a mismatch between vacancies and job-seekers and in many cases the vacancies were for semi-skilled positions. A "minder” might be

able to assist by guiding the client to an appropriate course, or by encouraging the client into good work habits, he says. The first job of a “minder” is to interview the client and find out what is being sought and what difficulties have been encountered. The “minder” comes back with ideas for the client to consider. The “minder” encourages the client to think through problems, says Mr Lee. The scheme will be monitored closely to see whether it is successful. Mr Lee says it will be run for two or three months, then could be extended to run city-wide. After that, it could be run nationally.