WINZ pulls,changes, and relists Telco vacancy

Last week Labour list MP Darien Fenton was amazed that Work and Income advertised a Telecommunications equipment service technician vacancy on behalf of Visionstream given that hundreds of Telco lines engineers have been made redundant.

One job was advertised, and Fenton was intimating that it should not have been, and she wondered what the Minister would have to say about it. Fenton was also unaware at the time that WINZ had put it on hold. When she found out that it was on hold, meaning no one could then apply for it, she assumed it was because WINZ knew it should never have listed the job in the first place, saying "I do keep close to the ground on these issues". No mention of the job possibly being filled by a migrant.

She was wrong. Perhaps she was so close to the ground she had her head in the sand.

She now appears unaware that the job has now been taken off hold, [her staff certainly were] meaning people can apply for it. The vacancy is here, but it has a significant change to its its earlier notification It is now a job that is an 'Owner/Operator' role with all the usual setup costs and variable income contract rates.

Last week it wasn’t. It was advertised as a full-time job. No mention of setup costs and variable income contract rates or the fact that a migrant may be attracted to it.

Perhaps Fenton could have found out why the job was pulled rather than "wondering what the Minister will have to say about it". Perhaps she could find out why the job was initially advertised the way it was, given its changed wording.

Fenton is not as "close to the ground on these issues" as she appears to be. That much is certainly obvious.