Employment Strategy

About the Strategy

The Employment Strategy guides work programmes across the employment, education and training system to ensure government initiatives and programmes contribute to a well-functioning labour market. Initiatives from across the government contribute to achieving the Strategy’s vision that all New Zealanders can participate in employment with opportunities to fulfil their needs and aspirations.

The Strategy’s objectives are to:

• Build a skilled workforce so workers have the skills they need to achieve their career aspirations
• Support thriving industries and regions so businesses can create more jobs and people can work where they choose
• Support workplaces to respond to the changing world of work and to provide healthy, safe and productive jobs with opportunities for workers to progress
• Promote inclusive work so everyone has opportunities to participate in meaningful and fulfilling work.

The Strategy was updated in 2022. Minor changes were made to ensure a more enduring framework with greater emphasis on implementation and monitoring.

Each year, the Minister for Social Development and Employment reports to Cabinet on the progress being made under the Employment Strategy. These reports are at the end of this page.

Employment Action Plans

A key focus of the Strategy is more inclusive employment outcomes. This is supported by a series of action plans that focus on improving outcomes for groups that consistently experience poor employment outcomes. There are 7 employment action plans, which seek to improve labour market outcomes for:

• Youth
• Disabled people
• Māori
• Pacific peoples
• Older Workers (50 and over)
• Former Refugees, Recent Migrants, and Ethnic Communities
• Women.

Youth Employment Action Plan - released in August 2019

The Youth Employment Action Plan sets out a programme of actions for government agencies to improve education, training and employment outcomes for young people.

The Youth Employment Action Plan monitoring and reporting dashboard

The current and previous dashboards are on the page below. 

Youth Employment Action Plan monitoring and reporting dashboard

Working Matters Disability Employment Action Plan - released in August 2020

Working Matters ensures disabled people and people with health conditions have an equal opportunity to access employment. You can find the alternative versions of the action plan for various accessibility needs and read more about at the link below.

Working Matters(external link) — Ministry of Social Development

Cabinet papers

Working Matters: Report back on the Disability Employment Action Plan(external link) — Ministry of Social Development

Working Matters Disability Employment Action Plan monitoring dashboards

The Working Matters Dashboard: October 2021 [PDF 523KB](external link) — Ministry of Social Development

The Working Matters Dashboard: March 2021 [PDF 369KB](external link) — Ministry of Social Development

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori - the Māori Employment Action Plan - released in February 2022

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori - the Māori Employment Action Plan aims to remove barriers and create opportunities for Māori to exercise rangatiratanga to create intergenerational wellbeing through work. Te Whai Mahi outlines immediate, medium- and long-term actions to support more Māori into quality employment, education and training.

Te Ara Mahi Māori reports

In 2020, an external reference group, Te Ara Mahi Māori, was set up to make recommendations on the focus areas for the Māori Employment Action Plan. The group’s recommendations formed the foundations of te Whai Mahi.

Pacific Employment Action Plan - released in May 2022

The Pacific Employment Action Plan starts a conversation for all of us about what new opportunities Government can support for better employment outcomes for Pacific peoples. You can read more about it here.

Pacific Employment Action Plan(external link) — Ministry for Pacific Peoples website

Older Workers Employment Action Plan - released in April 2022

The Older Workers Employment Action Plan acts as a blueprint on how the Government can help support and encourage older people to stay in the workforce if they want or need to.

It focuses on people aged 50 and over and is made up of 11 action items with a focus on training and upskilling, finding and staying in work, supporting employers to be more inclusive, and planning for the effects and opportunities of an aging workforce.

Older Workers Employment Action Plan launched(external link) — Office for Seniors website

Reporting on the Older Workers Employment Action Plan(external link) — Ministry of Social Development

Former Refugees, Recent Migrants and Ethnic Communities Employment Action Plan -  released in March 2022

The Former Refugees, Recent Migrants and Ethnic Communities Employment Action Plan brings together current and planned programmes of work across government to support former refugees, recent migrants and ethnic communities. The plan aims to remove barriers to accessing and participating in the labour market in a way that is satisfying and contributes to people’s wellbeing.

Government launches the Former Refugees, Recent Migrants and Ethnic Communities Employment Action Plan(external link) — Ministry for Ethnic Communities

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: Women’s Employment Action Plan - released in June 2022

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: the Women’s Employment Action Plan has a roadmap of actions towards a better future for women’s employment in Aotearoa New Zealand. It looks at the immediate and long-term actions needed in a changing labour market to get disadvantaged women into work and support them to stay in work. The plan is inclusive of all women and focuses on wāhine Māori, Pacific women, disabled women, young and older women, women who are former refugees and recent migrants, and women in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: Women's Employment Action Plan(external link)  [PDF 2.8 MB] — Ministry for Women website

Making work better for Kiwi women: launching Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: Women’s Employment Action Plan(external link) — Ministry for Women website

Cabinet papers reporting on the Employment Strategy