Kiwis turning down jobs to remain on the benefit would be put on "income management" if ACT was in power, leader David Seymour says.
It comes after Statistics New Zealand revealed on Wednesday the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.3 percent in the September 2022 quarter.
The data also showed the underutilisation rate dipped slightly to 9 percent, from 9.2 percent last quarter.
The figures show the participation rate rose to 71.7 percent and the employment rate rose to 69.3 percent. Both are the highest rates recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) began in 1986.
Seymour told AM Early on Thursday labour shortages are hurting businesses in a lot of industries around the country.
"The reason we've got low unemployment is this Government has engaged in a very expensive experiment, basically shutting New Zealand off from the world and finding out what happens," Seymour told AM Early host Oriini Kaipara.
"What happens is there's a whole lot of businesses up and down the country that can't get enough people to serve their customers. There's a whole lot of workers up and down the country who are under huge pressure, getting called and asked to do extra shifts, sometimes even in unsafe situations, because basically there are not enough people."
Seymour said some people on the benefit are turning down jobs so they can continue receiving their welfare payments.
"There are still 100,000 people who, according to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), are work ready but despite help wanted signs out, up and down the country, they are not actually working," Seymour said.
Seymour said ACT would put those Kiwis who are turning down jobs just to remain on the benefit on "income management".
"I talk to employers who say people come in and they do the interview, get the stamp and then go back to Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) and keep getting the benefit and that's got to stop," he said.
"We say if you do that, we'll put you on income management, give you an electronic card, you'll get the necessaries of life, but it's not going to be a holiday again and again and again. If people get offered a job, they should take it."
Seymour also believes changes need to be made to immigration settings as businesses around the country are struggling to get overseas workers in.
"I was at a business down in Christchurch. They were in manufacturing. They do really cool stuff. They sell to the whole world, they get customers in Germany, customers in America," Seymour said.
"They said we could sell twice as much stuff if we could get the people, but we can't get them through immigration. We got low unemployment but the problem is that it's a shortage of people."
Watch the full interview with David Seymour above.
