Integrating employment, skills and economic development: New Zealand

Abstract

The Integrating Employment, Skills and Economic Development (IESED) report to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) follows a study to identify existing co-ordination between labour market policy, skills and vocational training policy and economic development strategies at both regional and national levels. It includes a case study on the Bay of Plenty.

The report is comprised of six parts. Part 1 describes the New Zealand government’s policies and programmes in the areas of regional economic development, labour market assistance, and skills and training. Part 2 describes the Bay of Plenty case study. There is an outline of the economic and social context of this region, followed by an introduction to the local agencies that are implementing programmes in regional economic development, labour market assistance, and skills and training. Part 3 analyses the degree of policy integration at the regional level, drawing on interviews of national policymakers and regional actors in the Bay of Plenty. Part 4 draws on the same interviews to identify enabling factors and obstacles to policy integration at the regional level. Part 5 outlines possible future trends, paying particular attention to recent announcements by the Tertiary Education Commission about skills and training policy. The report concludes in Part 6 with some recommendations.