Government must protect older workers
Older workers could pay the price of the Government’s package to tackle youth unemployment, says Labour Senior Citizens spokesperson Ross Robertson.
“There’s a real fear that older workers could become the unwitting victims of the youth job initiative,” Ross Robertson said.
“While no one will deny the importance of any initiatives to get young people working, it will be counter-productive if employers replace older, experienced workers with young staff who don’t have the same skills.”
Ross Robertson said the Government must closely monitor the youth employment package to ensure employers were not using a jobs subsidy for the young to get rid of older staff.
“It is revealing that Prime Minister John Key himself has warned of the danger of a substitution effect, and Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O’Reilly says the Government needs to protect older workers from being displaced by cheap young labour. Phil O’Reilly says it is important the subsidy is only available to employers with a responsible track record in terms of staffing.”
Ross Robertson said there was another danger too. “Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive Alisdair Thompson suggests the subsidy for younger workers may alleviate the problem caused by minimum rates of pay going too high. It is important older workers are not made the scapegoat in a de facto attempt to drive the minimum wage rate down.”
Ross Robertson said that in an ideal world older workers work alongside younger workers for a fair wage. “A recession doesn’t make for an ideal world, however. I am all in favour of giving young people a leg up, but the Government must make sure its package doesn’t disadvantage older workers at the same time.
“I would like to think that won’t happen, but the Government’s track record so far in terms of job creation packages suggests that one thing it certainly isn’t strong on is thinking things through to their logical outcome.”
