H—ll

Notified male vacancies at 31st March, 1948, numbered 47. Female vacancies at 31st March, 1948, were recorded as being 31, of which 6 were in clothing-manufacture and 23 in hospitals (including vacancies for 13 nurses). Notified vacancies at 31st March, 1947, were 12 for males and 22 for females. Lower Butt District Over the last decade, concentration of heavy and medium industry in this district has increased to a remarkable extent. To-day further development is being retarded or inhibited altogether by shortages of labour, materials, and premises. The Department's camps and hostels in the locality, by providing accommodation for 400 men and 300 women from other districts, have given substantial assistance to the more important industries. Notified male vacancies at 31st March, 1948, were 1,311, as compared with 1,679 at 31st March, 1947. Vacancies for skilled workers were 584, unskilled 681, and juveniles 46. The greatest number of male vacancies unsatisfied at the end of any month during the year was 1,798 in June, 1947. There were 824 vacancies reported in the engineering group at 31st March, 1948. of which 750 (including 361 skilled workers) were required for the Kail ways Workshops. It should be noted that there are major units under construction not yet ready to commence whose requirements will aggravate the present position. Female notified vacancies at 31st March, 1947, were 659 ; at 31st March, 1948, the number was 421. These were scattered over a wide variety of industries, the largest numbers being tobacco-manufacture 143, woollen and knitting mills 53, clothingmanufacture 46, and footwear 40. Wellington District The labour-supply position in this district has become still more acute over the past twelve months, and vacancies, male and female, recorded at 31st March, 1948, are more than 1,000 in excess of those notified at 31st March, 1947. Once again there were no disengaged persons, male or female, enrolled with the Department at the end of the year. All persons enrolling with the Department have been afforded ample opportunities of employment, and placements were effected with the minimum possible delay. Employers in this district have found it necessary to fill their labour requirements with men and women from categories not normally acceptable, and Government-assisted immigrants have been welcomed by the employers to whom they have been allocated. The number of recorded male vacancies fell from 2,919 in July, 1947, to 2,669 in October, but rose steadily thereafter to a peak of 3,193 in February, 1948, being 3,190 at 31st March. The number at 31st March, 1947, was 2,372. Female notified vacancies rose slowly throughout the year, with slight decreases in June and October, 1947, to a peak of 3,541 in January, 1948. At 31st March, 1948, they totalled 3,503, as compared with 3,247 at 31st March, 1947. Male vacancies at 31st "March, 1948, included 1,272 skilled'men (937 at 31st March, 1947), 1,068 unskilled (994), and 850 juveniles (441). Vacancies for skilled female workers at 31st March, 1948, totalled 1,383, as compared with 1,367 at 31st March, 1947, and for unskilled 1,268, as compared with 1,379 at the end of the previous year. Female juvenile vacancies, previously 501, were 852 at 31st March, 1948. It should again be emphasized that these figures and those for the contiguous area of Lower Hutt demonstrate an intense competition for labour in these areas. Engineering and Metal-working Group. —The number of male notified vacancies in this group of industries has fallen slightly from 711 at 31st March, 1947, to 656 at 31st March, 1948. This number includes 251 in general engineering (339 at 31st March, 1947), 66 in electrical manufacture (128), 216 in the manufacture and repair of ships, engines, &e. (104), and 118 in vehicle and cycle manufacture and repair (126).

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