Councils pitch in to help as Auckland jobless quadruple

The Waitakere City Council scheme has given Richard Smith temporary work experience. Photo / Brett Phibbs

For four weeks, Richard Smith has something to look forward to when he gets up in the morning.

Mr Smith, 58, has been unemployed since his job running an online trading system for a motoring magazine group became fully automated in February, enabling car dealers to upload their own advertisements to the web.

In 14 weeks of applying for every job he could find, he did not get a single interview beyond introductions with recruitment agencies.

Numbers on the unemployment benefit have almost quadrupled in Auckland from 4923 last June to 18,060 on May 28, and have increased nationally from 17,710 to 45,624.

"The recession has a bad name for everything at the moment," Mr Smith said. "There are hundreds of applicants for every job you go for online."

But last week he finally got a break - of sorts. He is one of 23 redundant workers to be taken on by the Waitakere City Council under a new scheme called "Plus Four Redundancy Relief", earning $500 a week for four weeks.

"Although they say there's nothing at the end of it, at least it's four weeks' pay and it's something coming in," he said.

"I'm enjoying it - having to get up, and have something to look forward to each day."

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey is challenging other councils to set up similar schemes.

"There are ordinary hardworking men and women losing their jobs through no fault of their own, and this programme is a practical way of helping some of those local people through a tough time," he said.

But his council scrapped a cadet programme to help unemployed people into permanent work, which it ran for two years until last year, citing the costs of training and supervision.

A Work and Income spokesman said cadet schemes still operated in Whangarei, Kaipara, Manukau, Rangitikei and Northland Regional Council, but had disappeared in the Far North, Rodney, New Plymouth, Porirua, Hutt City and Upper Hutt.

The Manukau scheme for 13 cadets costs $224,000 a year, split equally between the council and Work and Income.

Waitakere has allocated $50,000 for Plus Four. The money comes out of existing budgets, with each division asked to look for opportunities to employ redundant workers on short-term projects.

"They would probably have got a temp in, so we use people who have been made redundant instead," said council spokesman Wally Thomas.

Mr Smith is working on the council's fleet management and car parking, using his previous experience but learning new software packages which will boost his chances of eventually getting a permanent job.

John Foote, 53, who lost his job as a buildings manager in January, is building a database for the council's legal department.

"It's good background to improve my Excel skills," he said.

Neither man qualifies for the dole - in Mr Smith's case because of his wife's income, and in both cases because they received redundancy pay.

But both need work to survive. Mr Foote is single, and Mr Smith and his wife cannot pay their mortgage and living expenses on one income.

"It's not viable without some serious financial arrangements," he said. "I'm willing to do anything - just getting something somewhere and just keeping some finance coming in rather than it all leaking out."

* John Foote: jff@xnet.co.nz; Richard Smith: dansian@xtra.co.nz;

LOCAL GOVT STEPS UP

Waitakere: Plus Four Redundancy Relief gives four weeks' work at $500 a week to 23 people who have been made redundant. Participants spend four hours a week with Work and Income work brokers to help find permanent jobs, but no direct Work and Income subsidy.

Manukau: Employs 13 cadets aged 18 to 24 at minimum wage ($12.50 an hour, or $500 a week) for nine months and works with Work and Income to find them permanent jobs with the council or elsewhere. Work and Income meets half the wage cost through skills investment subsidy.

Whangarei, Kaipara, Rangitikei and Northland Regional Council: Also run cadet programmes.