Until five weeks ago Josh Hill had never heard of widgets. Now, thanks to the Government's new Job Ops scheme, he is happily selling them.
Under the scheme the Government pays a $5000 subsidy to an employer to take on a young person for more than 30 hours a week for six months.
Job Ops has already placed about 990 young people nationwide - 68 in Northland. The Northland placements were mostly in retail, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Josh Hill is working for Para Rubber Whangarei franchisee David Hickey, who says the subsidy is an excellent incentive to take on a trainee and do the choosing.
Work and Income kept sending candidates - about six - until he found one he thought was right for the job, he said. Josh was proving a quick learner of sales skills and the subsidy met just over half of his wages.
Twenty-year-old Josh said he had discovered he enjoyed selling.
"Before I started here I didn't think selling things was hard, but there is a knack to how you say things and how you explain the stock," he said.
The Job Ops scheme was originally intended to provide unemployed young people with work experience and help them develop good work habits, but it is delivering longer term career opportunities for some trainees.
Ministry of Social Development Northland regional commissioner Clive Manley said a welcome spin-off was that many employers were saying they would be keeping the young people on the payroll - in some instances as apprentices - when the six months was up.
Nineteen employers were now waiting for placements under Jobs Op and more enquiries were coming in every day, he said.
"And encouragingly, some young people who have found out about Job Ops are actually approaching us about being taken on under the scheme."
"One in Kaitaia actually went to a business, gave them the details of the scheme, and was taken on the next day."
At the end of last month 3436 working-age Northlanders (18-64) were receiving the unemployment benefit - over twice the number at the same time last year (1665).
Nationwide figures show the same trend - 17,354 on the dole compared to 14,253 at this time last year. The peak in unemployment since the end of World War 2 was 177,000 in 1993.
Trainee sold on Govt subsidy scheme as jobless rate rises
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