Higher Wages Needed To Address Skills Shortage

"The latest Department of Labours Skill Shortages report confirms
the need to focus on skill development and better matching of the
unemployed with vacancies," said Paul Goulter, secretary of the
Council of Trade Unions today. Paul Goulter said skills shortages would not be solved without higher
wages.

He noted that the report does not distinguish between genuine skills
shortages and recruitment difficulties which occur when there are
skilled workers available but the wages and conditions do not match
the skills level required.

"The CTU supports a high wage, high skill, high trust economy and
this requires a much higher level of investment in education and
training as well as physical infrastructure."

Paul Goulter said the Government had made a good start in terms of
modern apprenticeships, commitments to lift numbers in industry
training, and a number of Labour Department initiatives on skills
development.

"But more needs to be done," he said.

"Wages need to rise to meet the circumstances of skill and labour
shortages."

Paul Goulter said there was room for non-inflationary wage growth in
the economy and it should be remembered that New Zealand wages still
lagged around 26% behind Australia.