SHORTAGE OF SKILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22464, 7 July 1936, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF SKILL

The chief difficulty in starting works to eliminate dangerous railway level crossings consisted in the shortage of draftsmen and designers, according to a statement by the Minister of Railways made at Timaru. Mr. Sullivan added that the Government had informed his department that it wanted the men, even if it was necessary to secure them from overseas. It is surprising to learn that there is such a shortage of the technically qualified. There had been an impression that the university schools were turning out more engineers and surveyors than New Zealand could employ. Either because there was no work for them here or not sufficient inducement, many have sought posts overseas and done well in them. If there is a genuine call for their services, some of New Zealand's sons might be glad of the opportunity to return to their native land. Mr. Sullivan should certainly see that they are given the first preference. Nor are public works the only direction in which skill is in demand. The shortage of skilled female machinists, referred to by the Arbitration Court last week, is restricting output in the footwear trade. Other industries and businesses have vacancies for the qualified and cannot fill them. By way of contrast there are tens of thousands still unemployed. The Government should seriously consider instituting training centres that could equip many of these with the modicum of skill demanded for certain occupations. Its own industrial laws are setting standards which can be fulfilled only by increased efficiency. Thus the handicap against the unskilled has been automatically raised. Training centres can, of course, solve the problem in certain directions only ; can fit men or women for jobs in which the necessary skill is quickly acquired. Attention must also be given to the apprenticeship problem and quotas for junior workers. It would be a scandal if, because of inelasticity in these matters, New Zealand was forced to import skilled hands, leaving her own sons and daughters to fill the ranks of the unskilled and the unemployed.