SEVERAL UNEMPLOYED SERVICEMEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 266, 10 November 1945, Page 5

SEVERAL UNEMPLOYED SERVICEMEN

POSITION IN AUSTRALIA NOT SERIOUS. BUT DUE TO MALADMINISTRATION (Special Australian Correßpondent—N.Z.P. A.) Recd. 6 p.m. Sydney, Nov. 6 Unemployment among ex-service-men. is assuming noticeable proportions in Australia, but this is held by the Returned Soldiers’ League and manpower officials to be largely due to maladjustment, and is not considered a serious problem. Many men, they say, do not want to resume their former employment and are waiting for more congenial jobs—sometimes more in accord with their service status—but they are expected quickly to adjust themselves. * Officials of the Returned Soldiers’ League said the si mation was understandable, as many men had acquired new trades in the services, and now wanted to choose their own jobs. The Returned Soldiers' League’s employment bureau handles approximately 500 ca es weekly of men who want, civilian jobs more in accord with their rank or the skill thev acmiired in the services. Perhaps four out of five of these men require jobs as drivers, or outdoor representatives, irrespective of their former occupations. Some, seeking profes ional and executive jobs, are convinced there will be plenty available if they hold off for a while.

The Deputv Director of Manpower, Mr. Witheriff, said no real unemployment existed among discharged men. “There i« no pressure upon them to take any kind of job. and it is <a good thing that they are trying to better themselves.” he added, but he warned that, large numbers would not be able to find the kind of congenial outdoor or clerical positions they would like. <