2025 Investment Advice
Key drivers of the advice
We are seeking ākonga (learner) number increases across most of our industries because:
- Most of our industries have experienced a period of workforce growth during the five years leading up to 2020 (see Te Mata Rarunga – Muka Tangata - Workforce for individual industry workforce counts) but learner numbers have been falling over that period. Combined with low retention rates (Te Mata Rarunga – Muka Tangata - Workforce for new entrant retention rates and industry tenure) this means that the ‘supply’ pipeline has not kept up with demand for skilled workers.
- MPI workforce forecasts predict increases in many of our industries’ workforces over the next 10 years (see MPI – Future Workforce Analysis) but they expect the mix of skills required to change with an increased need for more highly skilled workers, especially managers and semi-autonomous workers (including in industries where workforces may not be increasing). We are therefore seeking increases for qualifications that provide those skills.
- However, our sector has relatively high levels of workers with no qualifications and generally the distribution of qualifications skews towards lower-level qualifications (see Te Mata Rarunga – Muka Tangata - Workforce for highest qualification rates for each of our industries). While we have a focus on raising skills, we also need to feed the skills pipeline and increase the flow of learners at those lower levels. In addition, industries want new entrants – often from outside the sector – to have a better set of core competencies and be more ‘work ready’.
