THE RARE "GENERAL."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9626, 19 October 1909, Page 3

THE RARE "GENERAL."

«»_ The continued scarcity of general servants is the main burden of the annual report from the officer in charge of the Women's Labour Bureau in Wellington. "It often happaned," states the report, "that seventy places were available during a month, and only from twenty to thirty applications were received. There is no doubt that hundreds of good places are available for domestics, for, quite apart from the city itself, urgent letters have baen received for girls from employers all over the district. How the demand is to Be met is a problem that 1 commend to your earnest consideration, i The employers who can afford to pay > the highest wages are generally successful in getting servants, and in thi3 connection it should be noted that a steady increase in wages has been growing from year to year. A few years ago servants could be procured at a wage of from 8s to 12s per week, whilst to-day very few girls will accept lesa than 15s, and often demand £l, and get it. There is a marked tendency also fur the domestics to favour employment in hotels and other large institutions rather than in private homes. This preference is undoubtedly due to the fact that the conditions of employment have been fixed by an award of the Arbitration Court, and the girls know exactly what hours, holidays, and pay they are entitled to receive; whilst in private houses, unless a mutual agreement is come to prior to engagement between mistress and maid, the conditions are not clearly defined, and are often irksome and unfair. However, emphasis should be made of the fact that employers are generally most reasonably inclined towards their servants, and the demand for hands is so great that there is absolutely no necessity for girls to remain in homes where the conditions of work are harsh and the pay low when employment on a better basis can be obtained elsewhrere.