Jobs scarce in Ashburton

Press, 13 March 1987, Page 2

Jobs scarce in Ashburton

Farming families unwilling to spend extra money are causing a serious shortage of jobs in the Ashburton area, according to the Labour Department.

The senior employment officer, Mr Les Naughton, said yesterday that it had no long-term jobs “of substance” available. The “two or three” that had come up were shortterm.

He said Ashburton, as a rural district, had suffered since November, 1985.

“Ashburton is a rural servicing town, and the rural sector is not spending,” he said. “There is a flow-on effect that we have been feeling since November, 1985.”

The minimal number of available jobs seemed to be "purely based on the lack of rural spending.”

Long-term prospects for employment in the town were not good, he said. Opportunities right across the employment field, and not just on farms, were limited.

Mr Naughton was reluctant to apportion blame for the drastic shortage of jobs. He said he would not like to be a young unemployed person, and that “local information” gave no reason for hope.