MEN ON RELIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23103, 30 July 1938, Page 18

MEN ON RELIEF

POSITION ANALYSED POTENTIAL EMPLOYABILITY PLANS FOR CLASSIFICATION [BY TKI.EGH APH —SPKCIAT. REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Friday The analysis undertaken by the Department ol' Labour to ascertain the potential employability of relief recipients is discussed in the annual report of the Employment Division of the department, which was presented in the House of Representatives .to-day by tlio .Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. The report states that interviews had taken place between selected departmental officers and each person assisted from the Employment Promotion Fund whom it was deemed necessary to examine for the purpose of determining the prospects of rehabilitation into the industrial spheres from which each such person had been displaced or excluded, and for which he was now best suited.

Beginning in a small way a few officers were chosen to conduct interviews along lines laid down by skilled psychologists. It was not practicable to engage a large staff on such work for the reason that the lines along which the interviews were to be conducted and the conclusions to be drawn must necessarily be founded on a common basis, and too many interviewing officers militated against the desired uniformity.

Examination o 1 Reports Jt was estimated that the personal analysis would be finished by the end of August, and when all reports had been assembled the task of examining them would be undertaken. Tho unemployed would be broadly classified into employable and unemployable groups, and the degree of employability of the first group would be examined and the measure,s indicated that might bo necessary to restore or create maximum utility through the medium of training or treatment. The final classification of the unemployed would be as follows, unless experience derived from the course of the analysis justified a different subdivision:—Those 6.5 years of age and over; those qualified both by reason of personal conditions and adequate industrial experience for full time employment; those personally qualified by reason of physique and mentality, but lacking adequate industrial experience; those qualified by industrial experience, but disqualified by some personal condition either mental or physical; those disqualified on both grounds, industrially and personally.

independently ot the personal analysis, states the report, the department made a census m .March in respect of persons on the register at that date. The census was designed to show the conjugal status, age, industrial classification, employment and unemployment history of each person. To be of full value such a census should be taken at least half-yearly so that the trend of employment in industry could bo accurately determined. Numbers Reduced

"The prc.sent year has seen perhaps the most marked reduction in tho registered number of unemployed since before the depression," states another section of the report, "if relative figures were available it would possibly be found that the number of genuinely unemployed to-day is less than at any period for many years. Although there is .still a good number of men receiving sustenance relief out of the fund by far the majority are men who are totally unfit for employment on account of their disability. Those persons should not bo regarded as unemployed, but until such time as the social security legislation is passed and the necessary administrative machinery established assistance is being granted to them from the Employment Promotion Fund."