Unemployed people may be queuing up at dole offices elsewhere, but Queenstown has the lowest number of people claiming an unemployment benefit in New Zealand.
Figures released from Work and Income reveal its Queenstown service centre, which covers Glenorchy, Kingston, Cromwell and Haast, had zero unemployment benefit-related clients as of September 30 for the second consecutive month.
There was only one beneficiary for the first four months of 2008, after which numbers rocketed to two beneficiaries for May and June, then dropped to one in July.
The figures showed a steady decline in unemployment benefit claims from a peak in August 2003, when 127 people were on the dole.
The number of claims ranged between 26 and 72 in 2004, then dipped to between 13 and 29 claims in 2005, eight and 17 in 2006 and between one and eight in 2007.
The time it took unemployed people to find work in the resort was relatively short and the labour market was buoyant, Work and Income Queenstown service centre manager Judith McLellan said yesterday.
Four people on the unemployment benefit from Dunedin, Invercargill and Christchurch had visited the service centre in the past two days and all but one would start work on Monday.
"The labour supply in Queenstown is quite a bit different from what you find in Dunedin or Invercargill. It's the transient nature of the town; there's a lot of people coming for different opportunities.
"What happens in Queenstown is a lot of people transfer in from out of our boundaries looking for work who may be claiming a benefit elsewhere.
They might be living in Auckland and have family or someone in Queenstown, so they come here already claiming a benefit.
"When they present themselves in the office, eight times out of 10 we put them straight to work. We're interested in getting people off a benefit and into work."
Mrs McLellan said Queenstown's infrastructure had grown considerably since the unemployment benefit figures recorded for 2003.
Large and small employers had arrived and hired many blue-collar workers.
Hospitality employment figures were up compared with the construction sector.
Applications for other types of benefits had not increased markedly, she said.
However, the Queenstown centre administered far more claims for superannuation than any other benefit, with the second largest being for accommodation assistance under the Working For Families scheme.
Queenstown Job Agency and Wanaka Job Agency owner Jethro Robinson said his company was actively looking for skilled workers and recruitment was strong.
While a lack of skilled workers to fill vacancies in Queenstown was a problem, employers were still being selective when choosing candidates.
Prospective workers were more likely to be hired in Queenstown if they had a good knowledge of New Zealand and its customs, spoke English well, had a long-term commitment to the resort and were realistic about their wages.
"It's less of a workers' market than it was in previous summers. If someone has a skill and they move to Queenstown, they certainly have more choice for work, but it's definitely harder for the unskilled.
"There was such a demand for skilled workers previously that people were able to bargain their wages and people don't have that power as such."
