The manufacturing sector already employs 165,471 in 2023, with a highly diverse workforce. Forecasts show, however, the sector will need to fill over 15,000 job openings over the next 5 years to 2029, an average of 3000 per year, to meet the industries' need to grow and ensure continued productivity (Infometrics 2024). Our industries face global talent competition, particularly in areas of technical skill. A strong workforce pipeline to ensure stability, enable growth, and address chronic skills and labour shortages. This includes building and maintaining a diverse workforce, tapping the talent of previously under-served groups, and ensuring strong and sustainable career pathways

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• Perceptions vs. reality: External perceptions of manufacturing roles and environments often lag behind the reality of advancements in technology and operating environments, impacting the attractiveness of the sector to potential talent.
• Limited exposure: School leavers and influencers have limited opportunities to gain exposure to the manufacturing industry and its diverse career prospects, affecting their interest in pursuing careers in the sector.
• Career changers: A significant portion of new entrants to manufacturing are career changers, highlighting the importance of improving attractiveness beyond just school leavers.
• Adoption of new business practices: Many manufacturers are adopting new business practices and technologies and becoming more flexible, requiring skilled talent to operate machinery efficiently.
• Literacy and numeracy barriers: Operational workers in manufacturing may face literacy and numeracy barriers that hinder their ability to receive future training and advancement opportunities.
• Support for upskilling: Continued support is needed for addressing literacy, numeracy, and English as a second language needs in manufacturing workplaces, often facilitated through TEC-funded programs.
• Support for Māori workforce: Industry are grappling to embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi and want to embrace te reo Māori.
• Role of immigration: Immigration has played a role in filling technical niche skills in manufacturing, emphasizing the importance of supporting English language learning for a diverse workforce.
• Attraction and retention of the expanding future workforce: To address the labour shortages faced by our sector Employers must look beyond the traditional employment pools. Employers want to know how to engage, attract and retain a more diverse workforce which includes Māori, Pacific, Women and Disabled Peoples.
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What action is Hanga-Aro-Rau taking?

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• Developing case studies for school engagement: Develop case studies that highlight best practices for engaging with schools, aiming to improve awareness and interest in manufacturing career opportunities among students.
• Supporting pilot projects for school leavers: Support a pilot project targeting school leavers into manufacturing, collaborating with Waikato manufacturing businesses, AMA, Wintec, WECA, and Competenz. The initiative aims to identify barriers and opportunities for expanding or developing new qualifications.
• Showcasing workforce: Develop case studies/profiles of Māori and Pacific, female and disabled business owners, employees and learners in the manufacturing sector to showcase their journey and diverse pathways, providing valuable insights into career opportunities.
• Providing industry support: Develop an online hub of information and resources to support industry efforts in Māori and Pacific recruitment, retention, progression, and representation in higher-paid roles.
• Disability Action Plan: Develop a Disability Action Plan building on the Disabled Peoples' Research Project that will launch in July 2024. Identify barriers and opportunities to support more disabled people into training and employment. And publish tools, support and guidance for attracting and supporting disabled people.
• Connecting industry to clear education pathways: Develop long-term actions to develop and communicate clear and effective education pathways for the manufacturing industry, check out the pathways PDF on the left. 
• Awareness and visibility of Māori industry initiatives: Work alongside iwi/hapu, Māori Industry and key government agencies and advocates to build awareness, connections and collaborations for key initiatives that support Māori into training, employment and career progression. To ensure He pūkenga tāngata, he pikinga taumata hei oranga mahi, More Māori with higher skills in higher paid jobs and with improved employment opportunities.
• Develop Pacific opportunities: Identify workforce gaps and leverage opportunities to improve access for Pacific Peoples in manufacturing, engineering and logistics. 
• Pacific engagement: Strengthen our engagement with Pacific communities to improve programs that support equitable outcomes within the vocational education system and meet the needs of Pacific learners and workers. Including facilitating Regional Pacific Talanoa that brings together regional Pacific communities and industry representatives to discuss industry and regional Pacific workforce development needs. 
• TradeCareers online toolkit: Maintain and expand online toolkit and scope initiatives that support Women in our sectors, bringing together education providers, employers, and Hanga-Aro-Rau to increase the number of women working and learning are scoped and created. 
• Schools' connection: Continue to collaborate with industry, government and career development organisations to strengthen awareness and connection with secondary schools across New Zealand.

• Clear pathways for skills development: Manufacturers require clear and effective pathways for skills development, both for existing employees and new talent entering the industry. 
• Preference for just-in-time, skills-focused education: Industry stakeholders in manufacturing express a preference for just-in-time, skills-focused education and training. The increased use of micro-credentials to address technical skill gaps, which can be stacked towards qualifications, is highlighted as a key direction for future qualification reviews.
• Specialised and transferable skills: While some skills in manufacturing are specialised and require unique micro-credentials or qualifications, many skills are transferable within manufacturing and across other industries, such as engineering and logistics. Emphasis is placed on enhancing skill transferability and portability through cross-sector micro-credentials and qualifications, necessitating collaboration across WDCs.
• Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies: Investment in technology is expected to improve labour productivity in the manufacturing sector and increase the demand for higher-skilled workers. This shift presents an opportunity to reduce some labour-intensive processes and enable employees to grow into more satisfying, interesting and productive roles.  
• Quality Assurance skills: Quality Assurance (QA) skills are essential for manufacturers to maintain competitiveness and ensure market access, particularly as international markets become more advanced and regulated. Effective training and competency development for QA staff are crucial, including certification in standards such as ISO and GMP.
• Lack of standalone Quality Assurance training: While some manufacturers utilise external certification and training systems like ISO and GMP, there is a need for standalone, cross-sector quality assurance training tailored to those specializing in QA to further develop capability within the industry.
• Limited recognition of workplace learning: The vocational education system has limited ability to formally recognize learning and experience gained on the job in the manufacturing industry, hindering upward mobility, transferability, and transparency of current skills.
• Barrier to further education opportunities: The lack of recognition of workplace learning limits access to further education opportunities for manufacturing workers, as gaps in recognized skills may inhibit their growth and development.
• Challenges in prior learning recognition: While some formal recognition of prior learning and experience exists in certain areas, it is limited and challenging in the manufacturing sector, exacerbating the skills recognition issue.
• Funding limitations: One of the core challenges is the lack of funding by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) for the formal recognition of prior learning and experience in manufacturing, placing a high burden on both learners and employers.
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What action is Hanga-Aro-Rau taking?

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• Recognition of prior learning: Advocate within the VET sector to enable better support and recognition of existing and prior knowledge, skills and experience of workforce. This advocacy aims to facilitate pathways into further education and employment opportunities for manufacturing employees.
• Informing future advice to TEC: The advocacy efforts will inform Hanga-Aro-Rau's future advice to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), ensuring that the needs and challenges faced by the manufacturing sector regarding skills recognition and pathways are effectively communicated and addressed.
• Promotion of training pathways: Develop and promote training pathways for the manufacturing sector, highlighting current formal qualification pathways available. Continuing to work with the industry to identify improvements in these pathways.
• To ensure an industry voice in Tahatu (TEC's career website) and facilitate accurate communication of career pathways and occupation information as part of the Vocational Pathways strategy.
• Continual Qualification Development: Work alongside industry to collect information to inform future reviews and development of qualifications and micro-credentials.  To create more flexible pathways for manufacturing workers, potentially including the use of stackable and targeted micro-credentials and simpler transitions into higher-level pathways.
• Ensure Pacific representation in the qualifications and skill standards development, and programme endorsement functions at Hanga-Aro-Rau. Including feedback on qualifications and skill standards development from our Pacific partners.    
• Scoping QA skills in manufacturing: Hanga-Aro-Rau will work with the industry to scope the skills and knowledge required to support Quality Assurance (QA) skills in manufacturing. This includes considering QA skills in the context of existing pathways and exploring integration into more flexible alternatives, such as the use of micro-credentials.
• Adapt to Industry 4.0: Ensure training is in line with Industry 4.0 requirements including completing registration of the Digital Systems for Manufacturing micro-credential on the NZQA framework. And ensure the Competitive Systems and Practises qualifications are fit for this purpose during the 2024 review process.
• Develop digital skills: Advocate for increased uptake of existing Digital Skills for Manufacturing Micro-credential.  
• Support industry voice into the review of Competitive Systems and Practices Qualifications to ensure they are fit for purpose to support improvement processes in advanced manufacturing environments. 
• Building cultural capability: run two pilots for our MEL sectors that is collaboratively developed with a Provider based on the kaupapa implemented for Hanga-Aro-Rau kaimahi in 2023/24, which will be rolled out wider in 2025-26. 
• From working directly with Industry and understanding their needs, Hanga-Aro-Rau is currently working on the following qualifications:
  • Digital Systems for Manufacturing Micro-Credential 
  • Sewing Machinist Pathway – currently under-development as part of the Apparel and Fashion Technology qualification review but aims to provide a pathway for training cross sector 
  • Computer Numerical Control (CNC) pathway (engineering) 
  • Robotics (engineering) 
• Hanga-Aro-Rau is undertaking a number of qualification reviews for the manufacturing sector – you can find more information around these and how to get involved here. And follow the links to find out more about interim rulings, or quals reviews coming up from Hanga-Aro-Rau.

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In a shift driven by regulation, customer preferences and social responsibility, manufacturers increasingly need to develop and evidence their sustainability processes; especially those operating in export markets as part of global supply chains.

• Integration of sustainability practices: Training programs need to integrate sustainability principles and practices into their curriculum. This includes educating workers on the importance of sustainability, teaching them sustainable manufacturing processes, and providing training on how to implement sustainability initiatives within their organizations.
• Emphasis on regulatory compliance: With increasing regulation around sustainability, training programs need to ensure workers understand and comply with relevant environmental regulations. This includes training on emission reduction techniques, waste management practices, and other regulatory requirements.
• Customer preferences and social responsibility: Training needs to address an awareness and agility to changing customer preferences and the growing importance of social responsibility in manufacturing. This may involve educating workers on consumer trends towards sustainable products, as well as the ethical and social implications of manufacturing processes.
• Continuous improvement and innovation: Manufacturers in Aotearoa New Zealand are known for their expertise in continuous improvement and innovation. Training programs should build on this foundation by encouraging workers to adapt and innovate in response to sustainability challenges. This may involve training on new technologies, processes, and methodologies that support the transition to a lower-emissions and more circular future.
• Circular manufacturing models: There are opportunities to develop and embed circular manufacturing models that reduce environmental impact while offering customer benefits and improving productivity. Training programs should educate workers on the principles of circularity and provide them with the skills and knowledge to implement circular manufacturing practices within their organisations.
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What action is Hanga-Aro-Rau taking?

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• Research into skills development: Scope a desktop research project to understand how to effectively embed sustainability skills and knowledge into existing or new qualifications for manufacturing.