THE PLACEMENT SCHEME

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3794, 12 August 1936, Page 8

THE PLACEMENT SCHEME

THE RIGHT JOBS FOR THE RIGHT MEN. TYPICAL CASES. (From Our Own Correspondent..) WELLINGTON, Tuesday.

Critics of the Labour Department’s placement scheme (they have become fewer since the latest figures disclosed that 3061 men had been placed in private employment) rely for their argument on the contention that, because of the rapid improvement in industrial conditions generally, these men would eventually have found jobs for themselves. Even admitting that this may be partly true, it is to the credit of the scheme that it found the jobs earlier than “ eventually,” and that the men at least benefited to that extent. The critics referred to generally appear satisfied that there is nothing more to be said on the subject. Actually, such an outlook fails lamentably to visualise the fact that while it is the primary object of the scheme to find jobs for workless men, the placement officers are more closely concerned with putting the right man in the right job. It is a fact that many men who. had been in casual, ill-paid employment, or in receipt of relief, for several years, readily accepted the first

opportunity of getting back into jobs that offered security of tenure and a satisfactory regular wage or salary. As might have been expected, many of these haphazard engagements were not successful, principally because there was at that time no adequate means of testing the qualifications of the men for the particular jobs or, on the part of the men, of ascertaining the working conditions and other essential particulars. The placement officers definitely debar guesswork in the selection of men for positions that are offering. If there had been no restrictions the weekly placements might for a ftw weeks' have been considerably greater than they have been, but the reaction of employers saddled with incompetent men would most probably have entirely wrecked the scheme, which obviously depends mainly upon retaining the employers’ confidence . There have been many instances showing that employers have unsuccessfully made private inquiries for men for a particular job, and it is extremely doubtful whether worker and employer would ever have come together if' the placement scheme had not spread its network a_nd arranged the meeting. A case in point was that in which an employer declared that he had searched New Zealand for an autoelectrician. The registers at various placement offices were scanned quickly, and a tradesman with the necessary qualifications was discovered in the sustenance ranks in a distant city. He is now enjoying full-time employment at a good wage. A Hawke’s Bay firm needed a fitter, but there was none available in t that province. Within a few hours

a suitable man was located on the Palmerston North placement register, and is now happily able to contrast a sizeable wage cheque with the relief pay he had received for several years. A fortnight later the same firm applied to the Palmerston N. office for another tradesman, who was promptly sent along. On a recent Thursday a number of farmers called at a Manawatu placement office, where they engaged several men. One farmer, who had previously engaged three men through that office, requested that a fourth man should be sent to his farm. The “Situations Vacant” columns of the newspapers are most fruitful fields for the Placement Officers, who get in touch with the advertisers and frequently effect satisfactory engagements. In the New Plymouth area, a man who had been on sustenance and who has a wife and a family of eleven (five adults), has been placed on a farm as a share-milker. The prospects of the first season’s work are stated to be extremely satisfactory. In one centre a man aged 44 years who had been on relief for two years, registered at the Placement Office, and during the usual conversation, casually mentioned that he had served an apprenticeship in ironturning at one of the leading foundries in Scotland, but had not been employed at that trade for 12 years. The man’s other credentials were verified, and an interview with the proprietor of a main city foundry was arranged. As a result, the man commenced work next day, and is now giving complete satisfaction. An elderly man registered, and answered the usual questions regarding previous occupations, but only after having called at the Office several times did he mention that he had completed the requisite term as an apprentice brass-turner. Asked why he had not volunteered that information in response to questions concerning his previous industrial history, he explained that he had not forked at that trade for 25 years, and consequently concluded that as he probably would be regarded as having lost his adeptness there was nothing to be gained by mentioning the fact. The Placement Officer knowing the scarcity of brass-turners, sent the applicant to the manager of the Railway Workshops, who immediately engaged him on trial. Though the machinery used in the turning trade is to-day vastly different from that in the worker’s last year at the trade he is ouickly mastering its intricacies and is reported to be giving efficient service, and is likely to be retained for at least a length;' period.

The effective mobility of the scheme was demonstrated in a southern city quite recently, when an urgent call for thirteen carpenters reached the office. Only four men were available locally, but a search of the registrations in neighbouring

towns revealed the names of nine men, and within two hours of the call the full quota of thirteen men reported for duty. < These actual cases are merely typical of the manner in which over 3,000 men were transferred from the ranks of the unemployed to permanent or temporary private work. The transferring process still continues most satisfactorily, and the Placement Officers will be very pleased to learn of vacancies in casual, temporary, or permanent employment which can be made available to some of the many efficient and deserving cases among those enrolled under the Scheme, a proportion of whom have preferred not to participate in relief benefits.