14 May 2005
Up to 30 Fonterra staff are offered redundancy or replacement jobs as the company moves part of
its Northland operation to Singapore.
The Philippines has begun to rival India for outsourced international call centre work. However,
a Philippino recruitment company director Carol Dominguez says India has done a better job of
moving beyond call centre work to higher-margin jobs like animation, accounting, financial analysis and
examination marking. Dominguez points out that within a few years new technology will be taking over
some of the "voice" work.
IBM, the world's largest computer company will cut 13,000 jobs, or 4% of its workforce.
15 May 2005
Wellington City Council is setting up an in-house work experience scheme for refugees and
migrants. Up to 10 refugees and migrants who are registered with Work and Income will get unpaid work
experience in hopes of improving their job prospects. Eight council units — including building
consents, library, service units, infrastructure, parks and gardens have been chosen to take the placements.
Council community services director Wendy Walker says the project was created because of the
difficulty refugees and migrants have getting NZ work experience.
As the German unemployment national rate reaches 12%, more and more Germans are going to
Austria — where the unemployment rate is 5% — to work as "guest workers". Ironically it was the Germans who coined the phrase "guest workers" to describe Turks who came to Germany in the 1960s and 70s to do the low-paid jobs the locals were reluctant to do.
17 May 2005
The New Zealand Herald runs a three-day feature on "the migrant experience" featuring the problems skilled migrants from Asia tend to have getting a toehold in the NZ job market.
Mental illness is now Britain's biggest social problem, according to economist Richard Layard,
who points out there are nearly one million Britons with mental health problems on incapacity benefits
… more than are the unemployment benefit.
18 May 2005
Unemployment among Palestinians increased to 32% in the first quarter of this year, leading to
protest marches in Gaza.
19 May 2005
Minister of Finance Michael Cullen delivers the government's 2005-06 Budget.
20 May 2005
The Green Party is calling for submissions on the Flexible Working Hours Amendment Bill. A copy
of the Bill or a guide to making a submission can be obtained from here.
22 May 2005
NZ University Students Association urges school leavers to delay doing tertiary study until they are
at least 25 years old in order to outgrow the parental means tests for a student allowance. Less than
one-third of tertiary students qualify for a student allowance primarily because they are ineligible due to
the amount their parents earn.
Far more teachers than expected opted for redundancy when the government closed 12
Invercargill schools in its controversial "school network reviews". Southland Boys High rector Ian Baldwin
blames the speed of the Invercargill review for driving so many teachers out of education. One result has
been the government will not make the savings it budgeted for over four years by the school closures,
because it has spent much more than anticipated on redundancy payouts.
23 May 2005
The National Party confirms it plans to cut jobs in the state services. National finance
spokesperson John Key says it would not cut frontline the jobs like teachers and nurses but says he would find
"pretty chunky savings" by cutting what he believes is a bloated government bureaucracy.
A mining company has delayed opening its Australian copper mine by four months after a shortage
of skilled workers slowed construction. Straits resources chief Milan Jerkovic says the construction of
the mine was shut down for a few weeks because labour was unavailable.
24 May 2005
The Ministry of Social Development has signed yet another "jobs partnership", this time with the
intention of seeing unemployed people trained for work in the hospitality industry. The "jobs
partnership" with the Lion Nathan School of Business, called "Straight to Work" will initially see 50 people move
off the dole and into work as trained baristas and bartenders.
Women's ability to participate as fully in the workforce as they choose will be one of the Ministry
of Women's Affairs' priorities during the next three years, according to their
Statement of Intent 2005-2008.
The OECD predicts the NZ unemployment rate will average out at 4% this year, rising to 4.5%
in 2006.
The International Labour Organisation says international youth unemployment is rising. Youth
unemployment affects 88 million young people, almost 15% of all young people, and the majority are women.
25 May 2005
The PATHS scheme is extended to the Bay of Plenty. PATHS provides funding for eligible
beneficiaries who are prevented from working by health conditions that can be treated to enable their quicker
return to work.
26 May 2005
The average student loan debt is $14,871. There are now 708 people who have student loan debts
of over $100,000. Collectively 460,000 students and ex-students owe $6.9 billion.
27 May 2005
NZ is benefiting from as an exodus of South African medical graduates who are leaving their
home country.
Malaysia, in the throes of a severe labour shortage, is encouraging migrant workers to come to
the country on tourist visas to find work. The move comes as a complete reversal of the Malaysian
government's concerted effort to expel 380,000 of these same people, primarily from neighbouring
Indonesia, earlier this year.
28 May 2005
National Party finance spokesperson John Key says he is looking at the feasibility of offering tax
concessions to employers who pay off their workers' student loans.
Business confidence slumped to a 17-year low in May. The National Bank Business
Outlook survey showed 57% of responding companies expect conditions to deteriorate over the next year.
In March only 19.9% were pessimistic. The last time business confidence reached such a low-point was
in the wake of the October 1987 sharemarket crash.
Work and Income is to trial a new work-focussed service for all beneficiaries. Minister of
Social Development and Employment Steve Maharey says the services will focus on work outcomes for
all beneficiaries, not just the 20% on an unemployment benefit. Maharey: "Sole parents and people
with disabilities or illness will have access to a full range of specialised employment services, including
work seminars, job matching and training. Rather than categorising people on the basis of why they are
unable to work, the service will focus on what support people need to help them move into work, regardless
of their benefit type."
Kerikeri's biggest fruitgrowing company Kerifresh has hired 20 workers direct from Samoa
for their permanent workforce. The Samoan workers will mainly prune and pick lemons, which
ripen throughout the year. The company paid their new workers' air airfares as a loan and will take the
money back in deductions from their wages. It has put the workers up in a school camp and is bringing them
to the lemon orchards in vans until it can find houses for them to rent with their families. The money paid
in the orchards, not much above the minimum wage, is still attractive to the new arrivals. One
worker, Toiloto Apelu, a former senior constable with 14 years experience, says he earned less than $80
per week in Samoa.
Ministry of Health is asking for feedback on a plan aimed at building up the number of
Maori working in the health and disability sector. Matire Harwood, an executive member of the Maori
Medical Practitioners Association told The
Press that studies had shown some Maori had chosen not to see
a doctor if a Maori health professional was not available. Harwood says Maori are 15% of the
population but only 2% of the medical workforce.
Over half of British workers complain of stress and take almost 13 million days off sick to
recover from it, according to a survey by British mental health charity
Mind. A Mind report says stress depletes workplace productivity by 10%, a cost to the British economy of an estimated $65 billion a year. The
most stressed workers are teachers, social workers, call centre workers, prison officers and the police.
The report found that "macho work environments" made it difficult for staff to admit to stress for fear
of affecting their career prospects. The
Mind report recommends that companies introduce flexible
hours, keeping jobs open for those off sick, and allowing them a gradual return.