Louise Upston: Social Development Minister on the number of people on the Jobseeker benefit, over 86 thousand finding work in the last year

The Social Development Minister believes the latest Jobseeker numbers prove employers are keen to take on people on benefits. 

Latest MSD data shows a 1.9% increase year-on-year in people receiving the main benefit at the end of June. 

12.8% of the working-age population is drawing on the main benefit – up from 12.6% a year ago. 

Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking 86,000 people also moved off the benefit. 

She says partnerships with employers have been developing over the last few years and is making a difference in creating long term sustainable jobs. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So insight into the job market. This is for Q
two June quarter, eighty six thousand, five hundred and forty
four people moved off the benefit and into work, which
is up five seven hundred and seventy two on last year.
So that's good. Flip side though, to eighteen thousand are
still on the job seeker which is up one percent.
Louise Upston, Minister for Social Development and Employment of Courses,
we this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I know you like to use the eighty six thousand
or the churn numbers, but I mean, isn't the real
question if your bottom line is getting worse, which it is,
what's the point of the churn? People will always come
in and come off. But that's not the real story,
is it.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, I think what we're doing is showing that employers
are taking on people on the job seeker benefit, which
is fantastic. We want more people in work and so
that eighty six thousand people in the last year is
a really important number for us to focus on.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
How many of those people needed your help versus simply
did it themselves and were always going to.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, I think there's a variety. Look, there'll be people
who have been recently in employment, and many of those
will be able to help themselves. There are others that
need some retraining, need some reassistance, need some help with
their CV. Listen, I met an employer yesterday who's taken
one hundred and sixty one job seekers off the benefit.

(01:13):
So partnerships with employers that we have been developing over
the last few years is really making the difference. These
are long term, sustainable jobs and that's what we want
the key with.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
See, there was one of the reports out this week.
I can't remember the company you did it, but through
the hiring's up three percent. They said there's a lot
of churn, there's a lot of people moving within companies,
within jobs, but three percent hiring. So the two don't
appear to dovetail. There is hiring going on, and yet
the unemployment rate continues to rise. How do we explain that, Well, the.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Unemployment rate has kind of state at about five point
three percent. The thirty year average is five point one,
so we're not far off what it is as an average.
But look, for me, I'm focused on every single individual
that we move welfare and into work is going to
know what a difference it makes and The difference with
our government is we are not prepared to see life

(02:06):
on a benefit as good as it gets, and that's
why we're so focused on reducing the number of people
on the job seeker benefit.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
How much of it's hard work? In other words, if
people have got the attitude and the wherewithal they will
find work, there is work to be found, versus they
might be in the wrong part of the country and
or they might not have any qualifications or the right attitude.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, I think to be fair, in some parts of
New Zealand it is difficult. So if you are a
job seeker, it can be incredibly challenging. So if you're
working with MSD and they can connect you with an
employer who is looking for your skills, then absolutely that
makes your chances easier. And what we're seeing with MSD

(02:47):
is they are providing great candidates for the right job
and that is really important and that's why I believe
we're seeing such high exits into work.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
My out of left field question for you this Friday
is the AI story. So you will have heard what
Elbanezy said this week, why aren't we doing something similar
thinking about something similar? Given AI is very much about jobs.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, it's interesting because some of the information I've seen
so far doesn't mean it has a significant impact in
the short to medium term. What we need to ensure
is that our workforce are prepared and ready to use AI,
which is some of the work that the government is
doing thinking about at the moment.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
All Right, I appreciate it. Have a good week in
Louis Upston, Minister of Employment. For more from the Mic
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