SEASONAL WORK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22319, 2 May 1947, Page 4

SEASONAL WORK

MEN transferred; GISBORNE SOLUTION TASK OF DEPARTMENT (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 2. “More than 25,000 men and women have been placed in work by the National Employment Service during the past 12 months,” said the Minister of Employment, Mr A. McLagan, in a press statement. "Returned servicemen represented a large proportion, numbering 8000. The department placed 2300 boys and 1133 girls in the past year and as well as 339 people over 60 years of age. “One of the most important aspects of the department’s work has been finding suitable jobs for semi-employ-able workers. Such people would usually remain dependent on their families or on social security. Britain has found it necessary to introduce legislation compelling employers to engage a certain proportion of semi-fit workers. Jobs for Marginal Workers “In New Zealand the National Employment Service has made special ellorts to find jobs for these marginal workers, and during the past year 950 have been placed in employment. This includes many disabled ex-servicemen. "While the shortage of labour continues at much the same level,” Me McLagan continued, “It should be remembered that the shortage is confined, in the main, to a few localities. In some of the other districts, on the contrary there have been occasions during the past month or so when but tor the help of the Employment Service local pockets’ of between-season unemployment would have developed. Between the middle of January and the middle of March 1040 men were_ put off from freezing works in the North' Island, where seasonal activities show; the first signs of declining. “All these men had to find alternative employment for the winter as will a further 10,000 men to be released from seasonal activities throughout the Dominion (apart from farming. orchard work, etc) during the next two or three months. “The decline in seasonal activity falls hard on districts which have little to offer in the way of alternative employment during the winter. Gisborne is a case in point. In that district 100 men were recently put off from the freezing works in one week alone. The district employment officer was unable to find employment for all these men in the Gisborne district, although contract officers found a number of unnotified jobs in the district. The rest of the men were given work in the main industrial centres. Industrial Workers’ Camps “As a result of these activities the number of men registered as unemployed in the district at the end of January, February or March did not rise above two. “The industrial workers’ camps operating in Auckland, Lower Hutt and Wellington are serving a twofold purpose. They provide accommodation for workers from districts where opportunities for employment are not plentiful, and at the same time these workers help to relieve the shortage of labour in those areas where the shortage is most acute. The number of men iii residence at these' camps increases over the winter, the total number having risen already from 978 at the end of January to 1137 at the end of March. “The general outlook over the winter is for all seasonal workers to be absorbed in other employment in their own districts, or in cities or on some of the public works schemes (including local body works) that were deferred during the war. It is probable, too.’* Mr McLagan concluded, “that the shortage of male labour will recede a little over the same period.”