Ashburton councillors blame ‘entitled young people’ for labour shortage
From local democracy reporter Adam Burns:
Some Ashburton councillors have had a crack at “entitled young people” in response to the district's labour shortage headaches.
The offensive was sparked by a reported swell in the number of people on employment support in Mid-Canterbury, despite employers throughout the district crying out for staff.
A glaring disconnect between a rise in the number of people receiving job seeker support and the numerous open vacancies sparked questions at Wednesday’s council meeting around the transition from unemployment into work.
A report on Ashburton's economy was presented on the meeting held via Zoom, which attempted to unpack the district's labour market issues with a 33.8 per cent rise in the number of people on benefits over the past quarter.
Eastern Ward councillor Lynette Lovett believed the issue centred around the poor attitudes of youngsters who were ill-equipped for the realities of the workplace.
“Today they're the entitled group some of these young ones,” she said.
“Schools need to talk about work ethics and what's expected.
“You only need to go out and talk to the farming community who are employing these young kids ... they're only there for a week because they go out boozing midweek and then want time off ... life becomes too hard.”
Western Ward councillor Rodger Letham added it was a “parenting and education” problem and not a matter for local government.
Urban ward councillor Carolyn Cameron disputed the remarks and said the council was obliged to scrutinise the problem.
“We have to acknowledge the Local Government Act, which suggests we look after our four wellbeings including social and economic, which is obviously impacted by youth unemployment.”
Recent figures from Statistics NZ showed about 1100 people in the district between the ages of 16 and 24 were not in any form of employment, education or training.
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown suggested the number of young people in this category who were unemployed was about 20 per cent.
Nearly 750 people in Mid-Canterbury are registered as job seekers by the Ministry of Social Development.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.8% Summer
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35.8% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
What word sums up 2024, neighbours?
If 2020 was the year of lockdowns, banana bread, and WFH (work from home)....
In one word, how would you define 2024?
We're excited to see what you come up with!
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