Dumb Down, If You Want To Get A Job In NZ

Edward Gay in The Herald is telling the story of a graduate who was allegedly told to by the Department of Work and Income ( WINZ) to remove her degree and experience from her CV if she wanted to find short term work.

"Work and Income staff told a woman with a university bachelor degree to "dumb down" her CV before applying for jobs.

Natalie Meehan hopes to join the Navy later this year and said she wanted to take on some short-term employment before the next in-take later in the year.

She went into her local WINZ office in Napier for help finding a job or a short-term allowance and was told to remove her Bachelor degree and any mention of her two administration jobs from her CV before approaching prospective employers at Pak'n Save and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Work and Income deputy chief executive Patricia Reade said the WINZ case manager was trying to help Natalie target her CV at the kinds of jobs available for short term periods...

Ms Meehan said

"They said in order to get interviews I would have to dumb down my CV.
She said she hoped to get some part-time temping work but the WINZ officer told her to apply for jobs that do not require qualifications including Pak'n Save and KFC.

"She said: Make it look like you're completely unqualified because otherwise employers in Napier will feel like they're less qualified than you," she said.

Ms Meehan is living with her parents before she joins the Navy but said she felt sorry for anyone who had to pay their own way.

"What are you supposed to do?" She said.

Ms Meehan emailed the Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett and told her what happened. She said she also asked the Minister to look into the practice of WINZ staff telling people to leave qualifications off their CV.

A spokeswoman for Ms Bennet told nzherald.co.nz the Minister did not approve of people "dumbing down" their CVs.

She said the Minister was looking into Ms Meehan's case.

Ms Reade said WINZ did its best to help Ms Meehan. She said the Hawkes Bay Regional Manager will meet with Natalie to discuss her concerns."

Back in May WINZ  struck up a deal with global fast food giant McDonalds to provide 6,000 new jobs in New Zealand over the next three years.

The arrangement was later changed to allow for 7,000  McDonalds jobs to be advertised and trained for by the Department of Work and Income over the next 5 years. The Dom Post told its readers that “McDonald’s restaurants will receive up to $16,000 a year of taxpayers’ money every time it recruits a beneficiary under a partnership with Work and Income".

That's a $112 million bill for the tax payers (see "Would You Like A Future With That? The Burgerization of McZealand, Up To $16,000 A Head (updated) for the full story")
At the time MP Jacinda Arden asked the minister of youth affairs Paula Bennett this question across the floor of parliament:

“Will the Minister adopt any ideas other than those generated by McDonald’s, such as those ideas generated by the Youth Jobs Summit I hosted last week, including greater investment in skills and training, lifting the cap for tertiary education, and introducing a guaranteed employment or training scheme for the long-term unemployed under the age of 25 years, given that the Minister sees the power of working together to create creative solutions?”

Was this the best they could come up with? Is a job with a fast food company a career for life which will give all Kiwis higher wages and a brighter future? and was this THE initiative that will give “young New Zealanders a country that they’ll want to stay and work in” or just a cynical (and expensive) attempt to hack a few digits off the unemployment figures?

On 20 May 2007 John Key promised:

“If I have the great honour of becoming Prime Minister of this country then I want to leave a legacy too.
My legacy will be a strong New Zealand economy with higher wages, lower taxes and greater competitiveness. My legacy will be a country that young New Zealanders want to stay and work in.That’s what a National government will give you.”

What we're getting is a country where a government department  is telling job seekers to dumb down their CVs to get low paid, unskilled work. Looks to us like a gradual de-skilling of New Zealand is well underway.

Interestingly, today it was announced that unemployment fell to 6% in New Zealand over the last quarter, in a country where engineers, teachers and radiographers are driving taxis  it makes you question in which sectors the employment has been created doesn't it.

Update
This story generated a massive readers' response on the Yahooxtra.co.nz webpage. Here's a selection of their comments:

"I can understand the frustration the lady has with her qualifications, my husband has been told many times he is 'over qualified' for the positions he has applied for, having been out of work for many months(being made redundant) we have lived off our savings and not gone 'cap in hand' to the dole office pleading for a hand out, we have worked all our lives but it seems if you have no debts are not drugs dependent, not a 'overseas visitor' or are not from a ethnic..."

"Our case sounds a lot like yours - when my husband was made redundant they told him numerous times he was to overqualified and they wouldn't suggest him to employers for jobs. He would have done any job, and done it well, rather than getting the benifit but they wouldn't help us out on that front at all. Makes me so mad!"

"like many other people out there in newzealand. I have worked hard to get myself into better positions with companies this has now been a waste of time as alot of companies do not want to employ me as i have too much experiance and skills. i was also told to DUMB down my cv by winz."

"Work and income treat everyone out of work like f#cking morons, My husband has never previously been out of work, but was recently made redundant. He went to a "seminar" provided by W&I and came home demoralised and angry, He was treated like a desperate pauper, this "service" is neither productive or in any way helps jobseekers, I think a review is desperately needed"

"When I lost my job due to government cuts I went to WINZ to help me find a job, I was told to dumb down my CV in order to get a job as well. reading other comments on here I see that this is a common this. Its a sad thing that to get ahead in life we are told to hide who we are and pretend to be stupid."

"I was also asked to dumb down my CV by WINZ, so its nothing new. The few companies that have ever bothered to get back to me when I sent my CV have said that I am far too experienced, and this includes several so called Recruitment agencies. I have got the same comments when the job I have applied for is exactly the same as the last two jobs I had. Age discrimination is also rife, given that WINZ supplied me with a list of jobs where there were age restrictions, even though this is in..."

"I was told a similar thing after I left my husband 10 years ago - I was studying at Uni and I was told to give up the study as, and I quote "it wont get you any where, look at me, [The WINZ person] I did the same degree and now I work here." I was encouraged to stop study and get a cleaning job! I didn't listen, I found a job on my own and continued study and now have a great career."

"Well, our eminent Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is on public record saying in Parliament, that there is a 'job available for everyone.' Perhaps she should get her well-paid backside out of Wellington and direct her staff to find these elusive jobs for the unemployed, including those public servants who were recently sacked by this caring Government."

"I have recently been told by WINZ not to tell a future employer about a medical condition that I have that would affect my ability to do the job. WINZ said leave it out until I were asked. I was also told to dumb down my CV. Nobody wants to employ somebody over quilified because they will only be there until something better comes up. Edwin, I used to think a wee bit like you, but after being fully employed for 35 years and being made redundant I have changed my views somewhat. Better go pubs..."

"I did an unemployment thing with WINZ a couple of years ago. The most depressing thing I have ever done in my life. I have sworn that I would rather become a wino and live under a bridge than ever repeat that experience. I have a Masters degree and they thought the appropriate job for me was cleaning. When I get my doctorate next year, there is no way I am takeing that off my CV."

"Nothing new for all immigrants. We have to do this to run our families. Though NZ immigration requires qualified people (with master/bachelor degrees) but do not (can't) offer jobs of their profession. It is pity that it has come up in news now."

"I have been told to omit the fact that i have had back problems by acc. While it is not the same as taking a degree out of your cv, it does show that these people are basicly dishonest!"

"I got the same treatment twice, once from Winz and once from an independent agency. However, I don't know whether the recruiters or employers are at fault. I was told to remove astronomy from the interests in my CV in case, an employer thought I would not be able to, "talk to workmates during smoko." Laughable or ridiculous?"

"I agree regarding the seminars provided by WINZ. I went to one years ago and was disgusted how they treat you like a dole bludger straight off the bat. The guy giving the seminar told everyone that the unemployment benefit was a privilige not a right. In my books it is a right, I pay higher taxes here than in other countries who don't provide unemployment benefit simply as an insurance in case I need, making it a right as far as I am concerned."

"This seems to be the standard case manager bs line at Work & Income: "You're obviously not going to get a job in ______ (your trained field), is there any reason why you aren't working at McDonald's?" or cleaning?"

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Child Youth And Family Staff Told They Are The Minister's 'Servants'

Can you imagine receiving this email prior to a visit by your top boss?

"It is not appropriate for staff to pour their hearts and souls out to the minister. "This is a formal visit and she is not your 'friend'. It's a bit like the relationship between a servant and a master, ie the servant knows their place. She should not be presented with the woes of the office, or lack of resources, or anything like that."

This is what the staff of Kaitaia's Child, Youth and Family (CYF) office were allegedly presented with a day before a visit by Paula Bennett the Social Development minister (Ms Bennett is the minister who recently released private details of two single mothers' benefit payments)

It is alleged the instructions were detailed in an email from a manager within CFY and were copied to Annette King, deputy leader of the Labour party.

It makes one wonder how the minister can ever stand a chance of forming an accurate impression of CFYs if the employees are gagged like this. Is restricting information and workplace bullying endemic in NZ workplaces?

Some will remember the long running stoush ACC has been embroiled in over its "bullying culture", excessive workloads and "dictatorial management approach."
Immigration NZ was also criticised by the Auditor General for being a "siloed organisation" where people didn't talk to each other, with "poor management practices". Staff were let down by a "dysfunctional organisation" and didn't feel that it was an "environment in which they can raise concerns further up the chain."

The evidence isn't looking good.

Annette King has her concerns too about CFY too:

"Ms King said there were wider problems of the Government blocking information and communication and said she was frustrated by poor responses to written questions and Official Information Act requests. She had also struggled to get permission to visit CYF offices."

In March Family First issued a press release stating that CYF was "failing miserably" and called for an independent CYF complaints authority:

"Family First NZ says that figures obtained from the Ministry of Social Development under the Official Information Act show that the CYF Complaints Authority is failing its job, that the Ministry has done virtually nothing to make people aware of its existence, and that CYF remains unaccountable.

According to the previous Minister for Social Development and Employment Ruth Dyson in response to our request for information last year, a pitiful $14,000 had been spent on brochures and some posters for distribution around CYF offices to advertise the Complaints Authority, and no additional training has been given to frontline staff in terms of referring clients to the Authority.

And the Ministry of Social Development has informed Family First this week that only three written complaints have been made since the Authority was established in July 2008.

“Family First is being regularly contacted by families who claim to have been unfairly treated by CYF social workers - yet they have no independent body to appeal to,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “Their only option is a costly court process where CYFS have an unlimited pool of resources to defend its actions, courtesy of the taxpayer.”

“This is grossly unfair when families are being ripped apart, often just based on the subjective judgment of a social worker. The recent response to the CYFSWatch website shows just how deep-seated the concern is.”

“An independent CYF Complaints Authority is in the best interests of the social workers,” says Mr McCoskrie, “as it will provide an independent body to ensure that appropriate policy and procedures have been followed. This will result in public confidence and accountability for actions and decisions by CYF workers.”

“There is a Health and Disability Commissioner, a Police Complaints Authority, even a Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal. We desperately need an independent body to hear complaints about the highly sensitive nature of intervening in families.”

“The Advisory Panel being adopted by the Ministry of Social Development has the inherent flaw of not being independent, and the Chief Executive still has the final decision as to the success of the complaint. This is unacceptable.”

Family First calls on all MP’s, the majority who will have received anecdotal evidence of claims of unfair treatment by CYFS, to support the urgent establishment of an independent CYF Complaint Authority." Link

Would You Like A Future With That? The Burgerization of McZealand, Up To $16,000 A Head (updated)

Update: The Dom Post is carrying a story today saying "McDonald's restaurants will receive up to $16,000 a year of taxpayers' money every time it recruits a beneficiary under a partnership with Work and Income.That's potentially a $112 million bill for the tax payer.

New Zealand already has the world's greatest number of McDonalds restaurants per $GDP and the second highest number per capita (the first is the United States) add to that New Zealand's dismal record in obseity - third highest in the OECD - and many will ask does the country really need more fast food joints.

One time truck stop waitress Social Development and Employment Minister Paula Bennett is citing the relationship with the fast-food giant as an example of the Government's commitment to getting beneficiaries into jobs but a long-term unemployed person could gain an employer a $16,000 subsidy over 12 months more than $300 a week.

Seems like an awful amount of money to be spending at a time when cut backs are being made in higher education courses.

On 20 May 2007 John Key promised:

"If I have the great honour of becoming Prime Minister of this country then I want to leave a legacy too.

My legacy will be a strong New Zealand economy with higher wages, lower taxes and greater competitiveness. My legacy will be a country that young New Zealanders want to stay and work in.That's what a National government will give you."

Contrast that with recent reports in the papers:

• Stuff.co.nz "Thousands of beneficiaries could soon be flipping burgers under a deal between Work and Income and McDonald's."

• NZ Herald "Education Minister Anne Tolley says there is no more money to fund extra places in polytechnics during the recession. Between 6000 and 8000 students would be turned away because of the Government cap on places in the following year." (ed. but there's 7000 jobs going at Maccas)
  

• Jobless people looking to upskill through polytechnics could be turned away if the Government does not lift the enrolment cap."

Back in May the Department of Work and Income struck up a deal with global fast food giant McDonalds to provide 6,000 new jobs in New Zealand over the next three years.

Any ideas other than McDonald's?

At the time MP Jacinda Arden asked the minister of youth affairs Paula Bennett this question across the floor of parliament:

"Will the Minister adopt any ideas other than those generated by McDonald’s, such as those ideas generated by the Youth Jobs Summit I hosted last week, including greater investment in skills and training, lifting the cap for tertiary education, and introducing a guaranteed employment or training scheme for the long-term unemployed under the age of 25 years, given that the Minister sees the power of working together to create creative solutions?"

I think her question must've gone unanswered.

That is until today, when our worst fears were confirmed with the news about 7,000 (ed. where did the extra 1,000 come from? ) McDonalds jobs are to be advertised and trained for by the Department of Work and Income over the next over 5 years (ed. huh? I thought it was 3 years )

Is this the best they could come up with and is a job with McDonalds a career for life which will give all Kiwis higher wages?

Is this THE initiative that will give "young New Zealanders a country that they'll want to stay and work in" or just a cynical attempt to hack a few digits off the unemployment figures?

Last year Chantelle Coup, age 18 and who now lives in Australia, was awarded $15,000 after being constructively dismissed from the McDonalds in Kaiapoi for joining the union 'Unite' in August 2007. Chantelle, who was 17 at the time, had her hours cut and she was bullied into resigning. Chantelle later said that she'd like to use the money to pay off her student debts.

At the time Unite's national director Mike Treen said in a statement that his union often had problems with McDonald's franchise operators, saying that they often took the decision of their employees to join the union as a personal affront.

The employer was also found to have been destructive in their dealings with Unite Union and to have used undue influence to get their employees to resign from the union.

The restaurant manager was described in the Employment Relations Authority report to have been in a "position of significant influence" over their work. The boss, Patrick Cornish, was described as a "father figure", and it was acknowledged that McDonalds Kaiapoi is "part of a large and powerful organisation."

The workers there were all young and none of them had guaranteed days or hours of work. This fact, coupled with pressure from the manager was found to have pushed a number of staff to resign from the union.

"That is one reason we want security of hours included in their new collective agreement with McDonald's."

Unite also stepped up its campaign to end bullying at McDonalds restaurants and supported staff at four sites to stop work to protest a contract that allowed their employer to use their shift roster as a form of bullying and control. They cited cases where a McDonald’s manager demanded that a seventeen-year-old girl stay and finish her shift after her foot was run over whilst working at a drive through and many occasions where workers were pressured to work two or three eight hour shifts in a row with no breaks or being rostered off.

Patrick Cornish said he would appeal the decision and file a new case with the Employment Court. Chantelle would have to return from Australia where she now lives to attend the hearing. Mr Cornish did have a range of other options open to him including making an out of court settlement. No such case seems to have been heard at the Employment Court. but neither has there been any news about Chantelle receiving her compensation.


In October 2008 Unite organised a series of lunch and dinner strikes in Auckland and Hamilton at around the time that McDonalds Corporation announced a third quarter profit of $1.07 billion. The rolling strikes in some of NZ's poorest suburbs were used to put pressure on the company to match what competitor 'Restaurant Brands' (KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut) pays union members. Full time managers and crew at Restaurant Brands are paid $20.80 to $174.40 a week more than McDonald's workers. Mike Treen said:

"It's disgusting the world largest fast food corporation is gloating over its soaring profits while the majority of its crew are stuck on minimum wage and managers are paid less than $15 an hour. It is however a true reflection of the world economy with the rich getting richer and making sure the poor stay poor.

"There have now been more than 35 strikes at 24 different restaurants and we plan to escalate this campaign until our 1200 union members at McDonald's get secure hours and decent pay rises."

Wage rates for 16 and 17 year olds are 80% of the adult rate, i.e.$10 an hour but that rate is supposed to have been abolished at all the employers organized by Unite including McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and the major movie theatre chains.

Is McDonalds really the best company to be pouring the future of New Zealand's youth into and will it do anything to address New Zealand's much lamented low wage economy or its expanding waist line.

I seriously doubt it.

For today's posts see: latest posts

McJobs Government Sentences Kiwi Kids To A Dead End Future.

This week the Prime Minister John Key (also Minister for Tourism) confirmed that the government is to pour $1 million into the '100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games'. It was also announced that Tourism New Zealand had obtained the naming rights sponsorship deal on the event.

Further cutbacks on Tertiary Education
In the last few days it's been announced that $1 million in redundancy payments to Otago Polytechnic staff pushed the institution to its worst financial result in 5 years. Meanwhile, three Government-funded tertiary student scholarships (Step Up, Bonded Merit and Top Achiever doctoral schemes) have been axed to save $98 million.

I think we're beginning to see where the future of New Zealand's youth will be headed: the low paid service sector industry, tourism and prison management.

Now the Maritime Union has spoken out in a press release against the NZ government's plan to facilitate McDonalds' expansion of its trading base by 'helping' the company to recruit 7,000 people over the next 5 years:

"The Maritime Union says the National Government's plan to act as a compulsory recruitment agency for McDonalds fast food chain is a travesty.

One time truck stop waitress and Minister for Social Developlment Paula Bennett has described an agreement between WINZ and McDonalds that will provide up to 7000 unemployed workers for the fast-food chain's growth plans over the next five years.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the scheme has two beneficiaries - a Government with a failing jobs policy, and a global corporation that will suck profits out of New Zealand.

He says the scheme is condemning working class young people to a dead end future.

Low wage, casualized trap
"The fact is that for most people, working in these jobs is not a career path, it is a low-wage, casualized trap." He says he is interested how many children of National Party MP's are being sent off to develop their careers as burger makers.

Mr Hanson says that claims that such "McJobs" will provide a career path are similar to the burgers. "They always look good in the ads but when you eat them they never live up to the promises."

Mr Hanson says that thousands of skilled jobs in manufacturing are being demolished, and freezes in funding for polytech places will keep young people out of training. He says young New Zealanders should have the opportunity to work in areas like the maritime industry or the fishing industry for decent wages.

"Yet what we see is underpaid and often exploited overseas crews working in New Zealand waters while local people are shovelled towards the dole or the chip fryer."

Social divison, inequality and erosion of family life
Mr Hanson says the current scenario is that New Zealand is going to have a massive low-wage sector that would breed enormous social divisions and problems. He says secure, wellpaid jobs have long been under attack in New Zealand, as profits ballooned but workers saw their incomes shrink.

"Under the current Government we are only seeing two areas of employment growth, prison staff and fast food, if this is a success I'd like to see what a failure looks like."

Mr Hanson says the toll of casual jobs, multiple jobs, irregular hours and shift work in a "24 hour society" was causing massive social inequality and disruption to family and community life, leading to stress, health issues, crime and family breakdown."

McHospitals
In October of last year health chiefs called for southern health boards to cut ties with fast food companies such as McDonalds to fight a dramatic rise in obesity. Otago DHB public health group manager Pip Stewart criticised " the health sector's willingness to form links with fast food outlets when it should walk away, as it does with tobacco and alcohol companies.

Sponsorship from the likes of McDonald's would contradict promoting good nutrition and physical activity, needed to reverse the rise in obesity." See McHospitals

230,000 kids live in unacceptable poverty
22% Kiwi kids live in unacceptable poverty - that's 230, 000 youngsters according to a report prepared for Barnados and Cindy Kiro the Children's Commissioner. Cutting back on training and investment and condemning 7,000 young people to low paid futures in the prison service and fast food joints makes for a pretty dismal future. What a pity the 'New Zealand Lifeback Promise' only extends to tourists.

Wouldn't it be better to use some of the massive profits that companies like McDonalds make and put it toward building a better future for all of New Zealand's young people - use it to fund education, training courses and apprenticeships. Why condemn another generation to a minimum wage subsistence where the only bright thing will be the golden arches on every high street.


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