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This is a National line to justify their tax cut packages. I just read it again from Nikki Kaye in the latest Broadsides column.
There's a fundamental flaw with this approach - it assumes the work is there to be done (and secondarily that it pays enough that someone doing it has something spare to save). This is the same assumption behind eg re-introducing youth rates - that the work is there but it's somehow not important enough for an employer to spend the current minimum wage on.
Of course "accessing" a plethora of jobs which are "not important" is no way to actually lift the economy or living standards. These jobs will just disappear again when things get tight(er). A policy that results in a mass of jobs paying no more than the benefit but no hope of advancement is of little help.
(I'm not necessarily saying that the preceding Labour government was any better, but going into this election they have at least announced a procurement policy to keep/create jobs in NZ.)
A true job creation policy would look to the medium-long term - developing jobs designed to lead to more jobs both vertically (individual career advancement) and horizontally (entry level/expansion intake + growth of support industries).
There's a fundamental flaw with this approach - it assumes the work is there to be done (and secondarily that it pays enough that someone doing it has something spare to save). This is the same assumption behind eg re-introducing youth rates - that the work is there but it's somehow not important enough for an employer to spend the current minimum wage on.
Of course "accessing" a plethora of jobs which are "not important" is no way to actually lift the economy or living standards. These jobs will just disappear again when things get tight(er). A policy that results in a mass of jobs paying no more than the benefit but no hope of advancement is of little help.
(I'm not necessarily saying that the preceding Labour government was any better, but going into this election they have at least announced a procurement policy to keep/create jobs in NZ.)
A true job creation policy would look to the medium-long term - developing jobs designed to lead to more jobs both vertically (individual career advancement) and horizontally (entry level/expansion intake + growth of support industries).
