2014 Occupation Outlook report launched

  • Steven Joyce
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today released the 2014 Occupation Outlook report, a comprehensive overview of job demand, likely incomes, and training requirements for 50 different career options across New Zealand.

“The Occupation Outlook is designed to be one of the first places for young people and their families to look when making decisions on subject choices and future careers,” Mr Joyce says.

This second annual report brings together the latest information from employers, industries, the education sector and labour market analysts in a format that makes it easy to compare career prospects across different occupations.

“This year’s report shows that we are seeing strong demand in all skilled occupations as the economy recovers. However the really hot careers currently are in the construction sector, engineering, ICT, science, and the primary sector,” Mr Joyce says.

The 2014 report includes a special feature on careers based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). 

“Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are increasingly important for growing and sustaining New Zealand’s economic competitiveness. They underpin the development of new technologies and new, high-value products, and can lead to a wide range of interesting careers,” Mr Joyce says.

“Job opportunities based on STEM subjects are increasing, and this is expected to continue.”

The construction sector is another growth area featured in the report.  Increased demand for skilled construction workers is being driven by the needs of the Canterbury rebuild, Government investment in large roading and infrastructure projects, and a recovering commercial building sector.

The report is published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and draws on a wide range of information:

  • actual employment trends and other key statistics compiled by MBIE and Statistics New Zealand
  • expertise from Careers NZ, tertiary institutions, industry associations, industry training organisations, licence and registration boards, and other industry stakeholders
  • qualification completions and graduate income information from the Ministry of Education. 

The 2014 Occupation Outlook report is available at: http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications/lmr/occupational-outlook