YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 13, 13 December 1932, Page 8

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

MEETING OF COMMITTEE

The Manawatu Youth Employment and AVeifare Committee met last evening. Air AA 7 . G. Black presided, others present being Messrs A. Clark, A. H. M. AVright, T. R. Hodder, Professor Perea, Alessrs J. A. Grant, J. Murray, E. Bary, D. Morrison, G. G. Hnncox and K. G. Chamberlain (lion, secretary). Apologies were received from Messrs J. A. Nash, A. E. Alansford, B. J. Jacobs, R. S. Abraham, M. H. Oram, J. AA 7 . Rutherfurd, J. AVallace and J. C. Young.

A general report submitted showed that the measures adopted by the committee had resulted in the successful handling of the youth employment problem in this centre and that tho or. ganisation laid down and developed by the committee had with the assistance of citizens generally achieved satisfactory and practical results. Tho figures up to date were stated to he as follow : —Total registrations 198. Boys placed: Farms 52. shops 43, garages 8, engineering 1, clerical 4, apprenticed 1, miscellaneous 27. left town 16, at school 6, placed temporarilv 25, living out of town 5; total 188. Left on register 10. It was reported that the list of temporary positions included those created by several business houses as well as various employment on milk runs, gardening, kindling wood factory, etc. A number of temporary engagements had been extended and some would no doubt become more or less permanent, while most of the boys who sta.rted at the woodwork factory had been allocated to openings as they occurred. The factory which had been established at the old bus barn in Ciiba Street for manufacturing kindling wood had provided a very useful means of temporary employment for hoys while waiting for permanent openings, and a considerable number of boys had already passed through this factory and had subsequently been placed in general employment. The business people of the city had been exceedingly generous in donating packing cases and other waste timber which provided the raw material for the factory, and without this assistance it would be very difficult to show sufficient margin of profit to pay the boys reasonable remuneration. The object aimed at was to. build up sufficient regular weekly orders for kindling wood to give a ‘reasonably assured return. The technical and recreational classes provided by the Technical School and Y.AI.C.A. were of substantial assistance to the committee. A large number of boys had passed through them up to date and apart from the occupation and interest had received valuable training which in many cases had been factors fitting them for the positions they had subsequently filled. . A 7 arious plans for the future activities of the committee were discussed, but it was decided to defer action until after the school holidays, when more definite information regarding the number of boys then in search of employment would be available. It was stated that many country people had endeavoured to assist the employment of boys by offering openings on their farms and had been considerably surprised to find that there were no boys available for farm w ork. Alembers of the committee considered that boys would he well advised to take these opportunities while they were offering as they may not he available later, and there were many advantages to he gained by some practical experience of country life.