H.—lla

A study of the industrial distribution of the 51,799 placements effected in private industry during the fourteen months mentioned provides considerable interest because of the ebb and flow of industrial activity which it indicates. The most salient feature of this distribution has been the wholesale liquidation of unemployment among artisans. Particularly in the building trades has this liquidation been noticeable. At the present time there are very few first-class tradesmen, either carpenters bricklayers, or plasterers, who are without work. In fact, there is a distinct shortage of trained men in the two former trades, and this shortage undoubtedly is largely responsible for the limits to building expansion which are at present being encountered. A. similar buoyancy in the employment figures of mechanical and engineering trades has also been remarked, while there has been a great impetus given to the absorption of men in the metal-manufacturing industries, particularly in motor-car engineering and assembling. Parallel with the increase observed in the numbers employed in the many trades there has been a comparable increase in the number of " white collar " employees. Clerks who had been without engagement for years 011 end during the depression have been widely employed, while the numbers of commercial travellers and contact workers have likewise expanded. For the purpose of gleaning something of the actual statistical dispersion of placements among various occupations the nature of all positions filled during a period of four months from January 31st, 1938, to May 31st, 1938, has been observed. Information obtained by reference to this particular cross-section of placements indicates that during the period mentioned the total of positions filled was distributed among occupational groups in the manner indicated by table Xn in the Appendix. A continuance of these observations in conjunction with a study of the results derived from such a census as was taken in March, 1938 (see Tables IX, IXa, &c.), will provide valuable data in connection with research into industrial movements of employment and unemployment. Shortage of Skilled Labour. In view of the shortage of labour experienced in the skilled trades, a good -deal of effort has been directed towards securing the engagement of youths in the 18-25 years group as adult apprentices, a total of 469 of such apprenticeships having been arranged in the year ended 31st May, 1938. Vocational training has been incorporated in the syllabus of military training undergone by reservists, and this, too, should add its meed towards eventually relieving the shortage of skilled workers. Farm Labour Provision. The important part which the primary-producing industry plays in the New Zealand economy makes necessary the presence of an efficient machinery to meet the labour needs of farmers, and in this field the Placement Service has made sustained endeavours. No opportunity has been lost by Placement Officers to contact farmers, irrespective of their location, by post, pamphlet distribution via cream-cans, by personal approach, and in every other practicable manner. The guiding concept has been the need to see that the farmers obtain labour of the best possible kind whenever they should need it. Comprehensive efforts have been made to interest young men in rural work, and the administration of a farm-assistance scheme whereby inexperienced youths may be subsidized for a certain period has been undertaken with gratifying results. It has been found possible to satisfy agricultural labour needs most effectively by administering the dovetailing of surplus labour with unsatisfied demand centrally from the Head Office in Wellington. To this end, returns are forwarded from the twenty-four branch offices to the Head Office giving particulars of farm labour available and in demand. The placement of this class of worker is thus centrally supervised. In consequence of the compilation of special returns as to labour supply and demand, the Service has been able to assist both farmers and farm hands materially, and by the operation of the same procedure it is expected to meet the demand for agricultural workers during the coming season with the utmost efficiency. Savings to Employment Promotion Fund. For the year ended 31st May, 1938, the approximate saving to the Employment Promotion Fund, effected through the transfer of enrolees from relief to employment, was £434,949. This amount was arrived at by calculation according to the average relief disbursement which the Employment Promotion Fund has been required to make weekly in respect of each person receiving assistance payments therefrom. Taking £4 per week as the average wage of individuals placed, the Fund would be swelled by an additional sum of £34,100 collected during the year by way of wages-tax. Consequently, the aggregate savings to the Fund for the year amounted approximately to £469,049. In calculating these figures no account has been taken of the thousands of men placed with Government Departments and with all types of local bodies, those placed in casual employment, nor of the placement of females. Placement of Disabled Men and Welfare Work. Much work has been done in securing the absorption in employment of physically disabled workers . Men who have lost the full or partial use of a limb or limbs, men who have been afflicted with defective vision or total blindness, and those suffering from deafness and dumbness have all been willingly helped by the Placement Service. In numerous cases employers have been specially contacted and successfully urged to give these unfortunate persons a chance to get into remunerative employment. In one case a youth of 17 J years who had enrolled at a placement office bad secured

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