REHABILITATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25853, 25 May 1945, Page 4

REHABILITATION

PLACEMENT OF SERVICEMEN NEW CO-ORDINATION PLAN (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 24. To speed up the placement of exservicemen in occupations suitable to their requirements and which they may desire to follow, a servicemen s employment division is being set up in the National Service Department and will commence duty on June 1. The Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr C. F. Skinner, announcerd to-day that the National Service Department would act as agent of the Rehabilitation Board in the placement of. all ex-servicemen seeking Employment in industry and wishing to take advantage of the facilities offering. . “In future,” the Minister said, the two departments will divide their employment functions. The Rehabilitation Department’s responsibility to provide employment will now extend up to the point where an ex-serviceman or woman is fit from a health or efficiency point of view to enter industry, and if he or she so wishes the next link in chain of assistance will be provided by the National Service Department. Increased Efficiency “The positioners that we have the men to plaee, and the National Service Department has the machinery to place them,” said Mr Skinner. “We are now using our joint facilites to carry out more speedily and efficiently this very important rehabilitation task.” The Minister added that the new arrangement should benefit ex-service-men and women, who would be able to take advantage of the wide range of positions the National Service Department had to offer. This department at present had notifications of vacancies in industry for more than 6000 men and almost 5000 women. Mr Skinner said that the Rehabilitation Board's present farm training and settlement schemes and also the educational training would continue to operate independently as at present. Mr Skinner recalled that the employment division of the Labour Department had been the nucleus of the National Service Department when the latter was created to meet war conditions. The trend now was to revert to the original duties. The old employment division was looking forward to the time when there would be an even more distinct easing off'and later the elimination of the war-time policy of direction. Branch Offices “Not only will the servicemen’s division be established at the head office of the National Service Department,” Mr Skinner said, “but in every branch large enough to warrant it, while in the smaller branch offices one officer will assume the responsibility for servicemen’s placement work. As fai as possible the staffs of the new employment organisation will be returned servicemen, and there will be throughout a close liaison with the rehabilitation officers. In the case of men subject to direction the Rehabilitation Department has usually no immediate action to take. Where, however, it may be considering granting some form of assistance bearing on the employment of a serviceman, the two, departments will act in conjunction. “Though guided primarily In such cases by the national needs,” the Minister added. “ the National Service Department will in its direction policy pay all feasible regard to the long-term rehabilitation interests of directable ex-servicemen.”