DEARTH OF TRADESMEN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3807, 11 September 1936, Page 7

DEARTH OF TRADESMEN

DRIFT TO OTHER WORK. DEPARTMENTAL INQUIRIES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. The continued increase in the volume ot business generally throughout tho Dominion has naturally had its reflex in the demand for tradesmen of many designations. There is, for instance, a particularly brisk enquiry for competent carpenters, while for “A’ grade motor mechanics, sheet metal workers, upholsterers, expert sawmill workers, brass moulders, cabinetmakers, etc., the placement officers are experiencing little difficulty in finding employment. Though the position with respect to expert tradesmen has not yet reached an acute stage, it is anticipated that the Government’s house construction activities will result in further stimulating the demand for carpenters and joiners, plumbers and painters, electricians and paperhangers, and the many other trades allied to the building industry. Many thousands or men are employed in State undertakings by the Public Works, Lands and Survey and Forestry Departments, and it is thought that amongst this large army of men there may be many expert tradesmen who are working as labourers, or in some capacity not necessitating the use of the skill they had gained after years of training. In anticipation, therefore, of the demand for qualified tradesmen, and in the belief that these men, at present engaged in a "dead end" occupation, could bo employed more profitably to themselves and more beneficially to the country, the executive officers ot the departments mentioned have been asked to arrange that all tradesmen in their employ who are not following their callings shall be requested to communicate with the nearest certifying officer (postmaster) or branch of the Labour Department. This step is, of course, not mandatory, but all those men who are anxious to return to work bench or factory are assured that if they are still capable ot giving useful service in a trade, every effort to place them in private employment will be made by the officers administering the Labour Department’s placement scheme. Branches of the department are established at Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Taumarunui, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Masterton, Lower Hutt, Petone, Wellington, Nelson, Greymouth, Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin, Cromwell, Gore, Timaru and Invercargill. This appeal of course applies to all tradesmen of the Dominion who are working as labourers, and who desire to be reinstated in their trade, and if they cannot call at one of the branches mentioned above, the nearest postmaster will give them what information they require.