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New Zealand

Strategies for youth employment

Strategies for youth employment
Yes

Youth employment strategy planned in the next 2 years

Discussions within the government
No
Consultations with national-level stakeholders (e.g. employers’ and workers’ associations, youth councils, etc.)
No
A draft strategy already exists
No
Other (please specify)
No

Countries with national action plans for youth employment

Monitoring framework (timeline and activity/outcome indicators, e.g. youth labour market indicators)
Yes
Funding (indicative budget to implement the plan)
Yes
Institutional responsibilities (e.g. ministries/agencies in charge of specific planned activities )
Yes
Other, specify
No

Public funding for the national youth employment strategy

Public funding for the national youth employment strategy
Yes

Additional information:
The actions in the Employment Action Plan are funded through lead agencies' baseline budgets. Agencies leading actions pertaining to youth are: • Ministry of Social Development • Tertiary Education Commission • Ministry of Education • Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Youth in the national development / employment strategy

Youth in the national development / employment strategy
Yes

Additional information:
Youth are included as a target group in New Zealand’s Employment Action Plan, which outlines a comprehensive strategy to support individuals into employment and enhance economic outcomes.

Countries with national goals for youth employment

Countries with national goals for youth employment
Yes

Additional information:
New Zealand’s Employment Action Plan (2024–2027) outlines a comprehensive strategy to enhance youth employment by focusing on targeted support, reducing disadvantage, and improving career guidance. Key initiatives include: • Supporting Youth Jobseekers: The plan aims to assist 4,000 additional young people through personalized phone-based case management and individual job plans. It also introduces community-based job coaches to provide tailored, on-the-ground support for youth transitioning from welfare to employment. • Addressing Persistent Disadvantage: Recognizing that timely intervention is crucial, the plan adopts a life-course approach to reduce labor market disadvantages. This involves developing medium- to long-term strategies to tackle persistent barriers faced by vulnerable groups and refreshing the Child and Youth Strategy to ensure inclusive support. • Enhancing Career Information and Guidance: To empower youth with informed decision-making, the plan commits to providing transparent, accessible labor market data and future-focused career advice. It fosters stronger connections between schools, employers, and tertiary education providers to prepare young people for employment or further training, ensuring they have access to the resources needed for successful career pathways.

Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment

Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment
No

Policy areas in national youth employment strategies

Macroeconomic and Sectoral policies
No
Enterprise Development
Yes
Education, Training and skills development
Yes
Labour Demand
Yes
Labour Law and Legislation
Yes
Labour Market Policies
Yes
Other (please specify)
No

Social partners' inclusion in the youth employment strategy

Workers
Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
Informed
Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
Informed
Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
Not involved
Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
Informed
Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
Informed
Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
Informed
Employers
Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
Informed
Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
Informed
Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
Not involved
Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
Informed
Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
Informed
Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
Informed

Youth-led organizatios' inclusion in the national strategy

Fully involved
No
Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
No
Consulted
No
Informed
No
Not involved
No

Countries with national partnerships for youth employment

Countries with national partnerships for youth employment
Yes

Additional information:
2025: NO _________ 2024: Initiatives within the Youth Employment Action Plan strengthen partnerships to improve employment outcomes for youth. These include: Pae Aronui - an initiative seeking innovative approaches from providers that have the capability and experience to deliver tailored support for rangatahi to achieve learning and employment outcomes. Is is expected that providers to work with at least 20 rangatahi, and to case-manage them to/through learning and/or employment outcomes within the calendar year. Tupu Aotearoa - an initiative connecting Pacific people with local providers who will support them to access work or learning opportunities on their journey to employment, further training, or study. Skills and Jobs hubs - these have facilitated hundreds of training outcomes through work and career preparation, referrals to Industry Partnerships, compliance certification, and other training opportunities in trades and construction. There are three hubs in Auckland, and in 2023 a further three hubs were set up in different parts of New Zealand (Hawke’s Bay, Lower Hutt and Te Tairāwhiti Gisborne) to provide a pipeline for young workers to get work on large construction and infrastructure projects. The Ministry of Social Development's Industry Partnerships funds Local Government New Zealand to operationalise the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) Community Employment Programme - MTFJ is a nationwide network of New Zealand’s Mayors, working together towards the vision of all young people 16-25 engaged in employment, education, training, or other positive activity in their communities. The Community Employment Programme, just one of MTFJ's initiatives, funds rural and provincial councils across New Zealand to design local employment programmes that deliver the support young people and employers need for local employment outcomes. --- 2023: Initiatives within the Youth Employment Action Plan strengthen partnerships to improve employment outcomes for youth, thes einclude: Pae Aronui - this is an initiative that seeks innovative approaches from providers that have the capability and experience to deliver tailored support for rangatahi to achieve learning and employment outcomes. Is is expected that providers to work with at least 20 rangatahi, and to case-manage them to/through learning and/or employment outcomes within the calendar year. Tupu Aotearoa, another initiative as part of the Youth Employment Action Plan, connects Pacific people with local providers who will support you to access work or learning opportunities on your journey to employment, further training or study. The Auckland Skills and Jobs hubs have facilitated 428 training outcomes through work and career preparation, referrals to Industry Partnerships, compliance certification, and other training opportunities in trades and construction. _____________ 2022: - Construction Skills Action Plan and Construction Industry Accord include initiatives to improve skills and employment pathways into the construction industry. The initiatives have a focus on young people. - Sector Workforce Engagement Programme- is a government-industry partnership initiative to help employers get access to skilled regional staff - Mana in Mahi- provides funding and support to hire young people aged 18-14. This helps the employers grow their business and support their community. - Reform of Vocational Education- Creating a strong, unified, sustainable system for all vocational education that fits the future of work and delivers the skills that learners, employers and communities need to thrive. - School Leavers Toolkit- aims to provide school students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and capabilities they need to transition successfully into further education, training or employment. - He Poutama Rangatahi- develops pathways into employment, education and training for young people under the age of 24 years. - Increasing driver licence uptake and progression through the Graduated Drivers Licence System- a cross-agency project to advise how the government can improve access to driver licences for disadvantaged groups, particularly youth. - Taloa Tertiary Scholarships- to encourage Pacific students to complete studies in STEM subjects at tertiary level and increase the number of Pacific people employed in STEM careers. - Tupu Aotearoa- connect Pacific people with local employment and training providers to support them in things such as upskilling and training, writing a CV, interview preparation, career advice and finding a job.

Inclusiveness of vulnerable groups in national strategies

Women
No
Migrant Workers
No
NEETs
No
People with disabilities
No
Low skilled workers
No
Rural workers
No
Other (please specify)
No

Youth employment strategies and international cooperation

Youth employment strategies and international cooperation
No