It seems very likely that work for the Christmas Vacation this year is going to be harder to get. In as far as we can estimate, it is going to be more difficult this time than it was in the panic periods in 1967 and 1972. A number of signs point this way. One is the seasonal downturn in unemployment, which in previous years comes about mid-September, so that the unemployment figures are dropping quite sharply by the time students start looking for vacation work.

This year the decline in unemployment has only just started and is very small. Meanwhile unemployment figures in Auckland and Hawkes Bay are rather high and there are reports that the food processing companies in Hawkes Bay will be reducing their planting and harvesting quite substantially this year because of a variety of export problems. Then again, a fairly high number of people have been employed for some time by government departments on relief work schemes, so that a lot of the work which normally accumulates during the year and is done by students during vacation periods, has been dealt with. All this points to fewer jobs being available during the Christmas Vacation period.

The Careers Advisory Board and the Students Association are doing what they can to improve the situation. A lot of publicity is being prepared, employers are being asked to bear students in mind and to make jobs available. However, in the circumstances, our advice is to first contact the employer who gave you a job last year, and if this fails, second, to keep in close touch with the Vacation Work Bureau at the Careers Advisory Board office at 6 Kelburn Parade.

There is a notice board in the main office at 6 Kelburn Parade and all jobs coming into the office will be put up there as soon as they are notified to the Careers Advisory Board. A rather smaller number of jobs are likely to come through the Students Association office, so it is worth your while to check the notice boards in the Students Association foyer as well.