Here's our Job Save Programme designed to keep New Zealanders in work.
1.  Make youth skills, training and employment pathways a priority

Young people’s futures must not be jeopardised by the economic downturn. Careful government stimulus is needed to to build young people’s skills and training, so that they are job-ready.

The Rationale:

The unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 years was 11.1% for the year to December 2008, up from 9.7% in the previous year. Ministry of Social Development data show unemployment beneficiary numbers rising 34% over the last year with growth weighted toward those aged less than 25 years. Youth unemployment is expected to rise further over the next year.
Young people are particularly vulnerable because they have less work experience, but also because those aged 15-24 years old are two to three times more likely to be unemployed in general. This was clear in previous recessions, says the Department of Labour.

Young Maori and Pacific workers are most at risk. Not only do these groups have a greater proportion of youth relative to Europeans, but they also have more people employed in low-skilled and semi-skilled occupations, which are often more affected in a recession.



2.  Extend paid parental leave from 14 weeks to one year
Paid parental leave has proven economic benefits. It stimulates the economy, retains skilled parents in the workforce, and safeguards New Zealand’s future health and prosperity. Fathers should also be able to have primary entitlement.

The Rationale:
More than 20,000 parents access Government-funded paid parental leave (PPL) every year, according to the Department of Labour.

A number of OECD countries have moved towards up to a year’s paid parental leave. If New Zealand increases its PPL provision, in line with such international trends, it would boost the health of mothers and children and encourage the establishment of healthy parent-child bonds in the critical early years, including breastfeeding. It would also enable parents to balance their caring responsibilities with contributing to the economy.

International experience shows that parents who receive paid maternity leave are more likely to return to work than those who do not, giving employers a real saving on the bottom line.

Men are currently not entitled to paid parental in their own right – it must be transferred to them by their female partner. Giving fathers the right to PPL will benefit employers and productivity by encouraging greater loyalty, health and cohesiveness and is more likely to be a positive economic generator than a cost.


3. Change public procurement policies to retain provincial jobs, particularly for defence contracts


The Rationale: 
Iconic New Zealand clothing manufacturer Swazi Apparel last month lost a $2 million contract to supply the army with wet weather gear to China.

Although the contract was brokered through an Australian apparel firm, Yakka, the Defence Forces in New Zealand have confirmed that the decision was signed off here.

Swazi Apparel employs 70 people in Levin, and the health and survival of such small towns in New Zealand needs to be safeguarded. In the United States, the Defence Forces are required to buy 100% American products.

Swazi has shown loyalty to New Zealand in resisting pressure to move its manufacturing offshore.



4.  Postpone tax cuts indefinitely
Tax Cuts are unlikely to stimulate the economy

The Rationale:
A growing body of expert opinion believes tax cuts will not help the New Zealand economy. Air NZ’s CEO Rob Fyfe says tax cuts won’t save jobs because the middle and high-income classes who benefit most from them will save the extra money rather than spend it. Lower income earners, who are traditionally more likely to spend any extra cash, will receive less benefit from the tax cuts. Postponing the tax cuts indefinitely and instead investing in boosting skills, training and jobs is fairer for all New Zealanders.