A commercial cleaning company said it was “testing the market” by posting an unpaid job advert. It has now apologised and removed the advert. Fresh Desk posted a job advert for a cleaning trainee in Wellington on Seek New Zealand. The only condition was that the applicant would work for free, with the advert describing the position as a “voluntary position”.
A commercial cleaning company that said it advertised unpaid jobs to “test the market” has apologized and removed its job ad. (Getty) “We are testing the market to see if there is interest in volunteer cleaning work,” the ad read. A spokesperson for Fresh Desk said the ad has been taken down. “We acknowledge and sincerely apologize for our recent job ad, which suggested hiring volunteer cleaners,” she said. “This was an error in judgement and we deeply regret any frustration or concern this has caused, particularly given the current economic pressures facing workers and the cleaning industry.” “This incident highlights the importance of thoughtful decision-making when hiring and we are committed to continually improving our processes to better serve our team and community.”
A job advert for a “voluntary” cleaner in Wellington has been removed. (Seek NZ) The cleaning team, which consists of 13 cleaners and a manager, are all paid at or above the living wage of NZ$27.80 ($25.23) an hour, she said. “In today’s difficult trading environment we are seeing a reduction in demand for some of our services, but we remain committed to maintaining fair employment practices and ensuring a positive working environment for all our staff.” It’s a tough time for the labour market. The unemployment rate rose to 4.8% in the September quarter and is expected to continue to rise to above 5% by 2025. Companies have begun to scale back labour demand amid the ongoing recession, with layoffs reported across a number of industries including the public sector, meat production and transport. Stuff