MEN IN WRONG JOBS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 302, 17 September 1936, Page 12

MEN IN WRONG JOBS

Temporary Expedients Being Abolished WORK OF PLACEMENT SCHEME One of the chief objects for which the Labour Department’s placement scheme was inaugurated was the reinstatement of tradesmen in the trades for which they had been trained, but which, because of excessive slackness of business, were no longer able to employ them. The operations of the scheme v have been responsible for the permanent placement of more than 3000 men, a great many of whom are skilled artisans, with the result that at present there is a shortage of men trained, In certain trades, white in several others the margin between supply and demand is sometimes very small A departmental inquiry regarding this phase of rehabilitation has covered the whole of the Dominion, and it fe hoped that as a result many hundreds of tradesmen now engaged in labouring jobs will be re-established in their pre-depression callings. Rhe figures testify to the fact that their reinstate ment to full-time private work at normal rates of wages is proceeding satisfactorily. Almost invariably it was found that absence from their trades had not adversely affected their craftsmanship, a fact probably due to the thoroughness of their training and their natural intelligence. Makes Good After 20 Years. A remarkable example of this reten tion of experience is recorded in a southern placement office. Twenty years ago a highly-qualified iron and steel worker arrived in New Zealand. Being unable to secure employment at his trade, he accepted the first available job, and this happened to be connected with the confectionery trade. For 17 years he was thus engaged, when the business could nd longer employ him, and he had to depend on relief for the, next three years. When he enrolled under the placement scheme he declared his original trade, and two weeks later a position in a foundry was found for him. During a month’s trial his work was carefully watched, and the decision of the pro-. prietor of the foundry was that it had proved to be eminently satisfactory. Only an expert tradesman can hold a position as a motor-car painter .and duco worker and -it was in a rather doubtful mood because of a belief uiar artisans who had been away from tneir trades for several years had lost .their skill that the manager of a South Island firm .mentioned to a placement officer the need for such a man. The officer, also was dubious, because onlytwo of the men registered bad giten as their principal occupation that ot mOtor-car painting, and they “ad been on relief for several years. Eventually a man with a record of four years on relief was recommended and engaged, and he appears to have proved that his claim to be a first-class tradesman was. not an idle boast, .and that be was as skilful as of yore.' Fireman Back to Work. After being over 12 months on relief a fireman with a fine record of service at sea and a clean discharge became somewhat despondent when his repeated applications for work were unsuccessful. He had a wife and two children. and it was for their sake he had left the sea. He discussed the position with the local placement ofllcer, after having registered under the placement scheme, and was surprised when informed shortly afterward that there was a prospect of immediate employment His state of mind may be imagined when he found himself engaged as a fireman at a brickworks where the qualifications for holding a job were capability, reliability and sobriety—three virtues that his sea-going references indicated that he possessed.

There are 300 butchers enrolled at the 22 Dominion placement offices, many of them during recent years having had to make a living at various strange occupations. Four notable placements of men of this trade were made this month by the Christchurch office. One of these men had been on relief for five years, another for three years, the third for two years, and the fourth for 15 months. One was sent to South Westland and the others to Hokitika, Blenheim and Oamaru respectively, placements that indicate the extreme mobility of the scheme.