Dawn Chorus for Thursday, December 28

People attempting to enter employment now have to reckon with being put on a 90-day trial even if offered a job by a large employer. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: Amid the flurry of legislation passed under urgency and without regulatory analysis or Parliamentary scrutiny before Christmas, the new National/ACT/NZ First coalition Government extended 90-day trials to the remaining 11% of Aotearoa-NZ’s employers who weren’t already able to use it.

It turned out Treasury advised against the move, saying the employers with more than 20 workers already had enough ways to trial and screen people, and were more likely to want to hoard workers, rather than fire them. The extension was also legislated against the evidence from a 2016 Motu study showing the full 90-day trial trial created few benefits. NZ Herald-$$$ Jenee Tibshraeny.

Elsewhere in the news this morning:

• A survey of nursing students has found more than 30% are considering quitting training because of the financial stresses of renting, the costs-of-living and fees, adding to the stress on a health sector with nearly 3,000 open vacancies that is forced to recruit heavily overseas because of a lack of locally-trained staff. The Post-$$$ Sinead Gill

• Australia’s biggest bank CEOs have said housing shortages and the inability to build enough new homes was the economy’s biggest restraint to growth, while a survey of New Zealand directors found just 9% saw housing affordability as the main problem, behind 11 other issues, including climate change at 10th. (See chart of the day below) The Australian-gift Paulina Duran Eric Johnston

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Ready, fire, aim: 90-day trials resumed against advice