NZ likely to see 200,000 extra unemployed by Christmas, all the while Jacinda smiles and jokes

Just today alonewe have seen 2500 jobs lost, 1000 at Fletchers and 1500 at Air NZ.  What we don’t see in the media, especially on fake news sites like Stuff, are the hundreds of others being told they have lost their job – daily across the country.  Many employment and economy experts are predicting at least 200,000 more unemployed in NZ by Christmas than before the Lockdown period.

The unfortunate reality is, the more that lose their jobs, the more jobs will be lost in other sectors.  When people don’t have money for flash holidays in Queenstown, like the NZ PM suggests people go and take, and don’t have money for anything but groceries and rent, other businesses will struggle to stay afloat, and they too will let staff go, and it becomes a long running cycle, likely not to turn around until the borders are opened up again, and even then it will take at least another 6 to 9 months after that.

Insultingly to those whose lives are being turned upside down by losing their job, and possibly soon their house, Jacinda fronts the media, gives lots of big smiles, makes a few jokes, pats herself on the back – and walks off with no real plan on how to stop the thousands of jobs disappearing by the week.

So what should the Gov’t be doing?  Instead of congratulating themselves at every opportunity, they should be telling all businesses – don’t lay off staff!  Tell us what you need, and give us a business plan – we will do everything we can to keep you going until things turn around.  In the long run, this will be cheaper than paying hundreds of thousands of extra benefits, facing up to the social cost with no doubt more suicides, family violence and crime.

Jacinda – thanks for following the advice to control the virus, but now you actually have to do your job – and do something concrete to help Kiwis.