FutureworkNZ

Educating New Zealand’s future workforce

Guest Author • Jan 22, 2020

• education,
• school

Judy Kavanagh Do you remember your first day at school? The education I received was for a very different world than the world of today. Along with huge social shifts there have been big changes in the New Zealand economy and the work people do. There are occupations … Read More

Will there still be Santa?

Guest Author • Dec 23, 2019

• Christmas,
• santa,
• Technology

Amelia Sharman I’ve got some bad news about Santa Claus. The North Pole may be far, but it’s not too far to avoid the tentacles of technological change. While Santa is no slouch when it comes to adopting technology (having adopted assembly lines about 100 years ago, and more recently using real-time warehouse management systems to run his … Read More

Where are all the part-time students?

Guest Author • Dec 21, 2019

• part-time employment,
• students,
• work

John MacCormick You’d think that with low unemployment and ever-improving technology for distance education, the proportion of tertiary students studying part-time would be on the rise. But it’s not. There’s a puzzle here that may help to reveal some of the challenges our tertiary education system faces in meeting the skills needs of New Zealand’s workforce. The number of people … Read More

From sewing machinist to software programmer

Guest Author • Dec 16, 2019

• Labour,
• occupation,
• Technology

Amelia Sharman I’m sure you’ve heard some version of this popular prediction – about two-thirds of children entering primary school today will end up working in jobs that don’t exist yet.1 This prediction assumes rapid or accelerating technological change. But looking at historical trends and current data, rates of technological change are not accelerating, and the impact on jobs will … Read More

Generalist to specialist

Guest Author • Dec 05, 2019

• Automation,
• Employment,
• Technology

Amelia Sharman Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and turning your hand to most activities within … Read More

Bite-sized learning

Guest Author • Dec 03, 2019

• education,
• Learning,
• micro-credentials,
• microcredentials

Amelia Sharman There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change.  What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. The important thing is that at the end … Read More

Forty years of change in the jobs Kiwis do and the places they call home

Guest Author • Oct 17, 2019

• cities,
• commuting,
• jobs,
• labour market,
• work

Judy Kavanagh Over the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid and require a tertiary qualification) increasing participation of women in … Read More

Shocks to the system

Guest Author • Sep 11, 2019

• farming,
• primary industries,
• sheep,
• synthetic wool,
• Technology,
• wool

Nik Green As a small country that’s far away from most of the world, it’s not surprising that many have worried about New Zealand’s exposure to shocks from things like technology. New Zealand has been hit by many such shocks over its history, although they’ve not always been negative for work or incomes. For many New Zealanders of my … Read More

The nuts and bolts of automation

Guest Author • Sep 09, 2019

• Automation,
• business,
• distribution,
• Technology

Judy Kavanagh Many, many things affect whether a firm will adopt a technology, and whether this adoption will be successful. I got a sense of this at a recent family gathering, where I met up with Michael. Michael’s a Hutt boy who, with a friend, set up an online nuts and bolts distribution company in Brisbane.  The thing with … Read More

Making digital inclusion ‘go viral’

Guest Author • Sep 05, 2019

• digital divide,
• digital inclusion,
• education

Amelia Sharman Can you ‘infect’ someone with digital skills? It may sound like an odd question but let me explain… The terms of reference for the Commission’s inquiry into Technological change and the future of work asks how we can address the digital divide in New Zealand. To help us answer this question, we need to understand how digital … Read More