H—llA

(c) Dairy Factories. —Some difficulty was experienced in keeping abreast with the seasonal demands of the forty-four factories in this district, particularly in the earlier part of the season. Volunteers coming forward for the cheese-factories were limited. The lack of married accommodation at or in the vicinity of the various factories has an adverse influence in the attraction of suitable married men to this class of employment. As a result, a forty-eight-hour week and even more was necessary in most factories. (d) Freezing Industry.—The freezing-works at Makarewa, Mataura, and Ocean Beach, which during the previous three seasons had made pressing demands for labour, were all reasonably satisfied with labour when they commenced operations in January. Although a limited number of additional men could have been absorbed, nevertheless these works were reported to have been able to handle record killings. Advertising for volunteer workers produced very satisfactory results. (e) Goal-mining Industry.—Only limited vacancies have been notified, with a peak figure of 10 in September, 1945, reduced to 3 in March, 1946, as a result of special efforts made to staff coal-mines. (/) Other Industries employing Male Labour. —Shortages of tradesmen of all classes have been evident in the building and allied trades, engineering, and other industries, and limited shortages in the flaxmilling, clay, and concrete products manufacturing industries and in the Railways Department, have also been notified during the period. (g) Hospitals.—A rising trend in the number of notified vacancies has been evident in the growth from 9 in September, 1945, to 59 at the end of March, 1946. Despite sustained efforts to divert all suitable female labour to the various hospital institutions, resignations from both the domestic and nursing staffs have steadily increased, especially so since the revocation of the declaration of essentiality in February, 1946. (h) Woollen-mills and Clothing-factories.—During the period under review several clothing factories have been opened in Invercargill offering employment to approximately 200 females. At the end of March, 1946 vacancies in woollen-mills stood at 30, but had fallen to nil in clothing-factories. (i) Hotels and Restaurants. &c. —Steady demands for domestic staff have been received, with maximum notified vacancies rising to 38 in February, 1946, and falling to 30 at the end of March. Requests for labour for domestic service in private homes have also been forthcoming, and there were 19 such vacancies in March. (j) Returned Servicemen. —No particular difficulties have occurred in the placement of exservicemen in suitable employment, and at 31st March, 1946, with only 1 returned serviceman enrolled, a most satisfactory position was shown. PART V.—EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION AND OUTLOOK SECTION I.—FOUNDATION INFORMATION AND MONTH-TO-MONTH STATISTICS 484. During the first two years of the war efforts were mainly concentrated on the building-up of the Armed Forces. Up to the end of 1941 no attempt had been made to control the disposition of the Dominion's labour force as between industries, although the withdrawal of men from industry for military service was governed by the system of appeals on public-interest grounds, earlier discussed. Little was known, therefore, regarding changes in the employment position in industry other than the withdrawal of men to the Armed Forces until the advent of measures of Man-power Control in January, 1942. The unexpected turn of events in the war had, by 1941, raised man-power problems which could only be met by measures of control. For the exercise of these, adequate information of the changing labour position in all important industries was fundamental. In each undertaking declared essential the labour position at the time of declaration was ascertained and this formed a basis for a continuing study of the position. In addition, the total resources of the Dominion in certain types of skill of key importance were ascertained by compulsory registration of all persons with such skills whether still practising the occupations concerned or not. A schedule of registration orders covering these particular occupations is given in Table 21 of the Appendix. 485. From 1942 onward, therefore, the Department maintained a considerable volume of current employment data covering those parts of the industrial field which were of particular wartime importance. Apart from the initial sources mentioned above, regular sources of this information were returned by District Man-power Officers as follows : (a) Number of persons directed into essential industry during the month (males and females separately) and the number of these complied with. (b) Numbers of applications for permission to terminate employment in essential industry (males and females separately), the numbers of applications granted and refused, the reasons for termination, and the type of industry to which the worker moved—i.e., whether same industry, other essential, or non-essential —which the person subsequently entered after termination.

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