Labour’s tertiary education spokesperson Shanan Halbert says New Zealand risks losing more skilled workers overseas unless it rebuilds the connection between training, apprenticeships and real jobs.
The warning comes as the tertiary and vocational education sector undergoes another major restructure, while unemployment has climbed to 5.6 percent in the June quarter.
Stats NZ says 171,000 people are now unemployed, with the unemployment rate reaching its highest level in more than a decade.
Halbert says the pressure is particularly visible in the trades, where trained workers are looking offshore when they cannot find secure employment at home.
For Labour, that raises a bigger question about why New Zealand should invest in training plumbers, builders, electricians and other skilled workers only to lose them when the economy cannot provide enough work.
Labour has put apprenticeships at the centre of its election-year tertiary policy, promising to expand Apprenticeship Boost if it wins government in November.
Its proposal would pay eligible employers $500 a month for the first two years of an apprenticeship, doubling the current one-year period. Labour also plans to extend eligibility into more occupations, including road construction, water treatment and hairdressing.
Eligible apprentices would also be able to apply for a $1,000 grant towards tools and equipment, while additional funding would be provided for mentoring and support designed to help apprentices complete their qualifications.
The policy arrives as New Zealand dismantles the centralised vocational education structure built around Te Pūkenga and moves back towards a more regional system.
The new vocational education and training model began operating on January 1 this year. It includes eight Industry Skills Boards and 10 stand-alone polytechnics, while work-based learning is progressively being transferred into polytechnics, private training establishments and wānanga.
Around 250,000 New Zealanders participate in vocational education each year, with roughly half studying through providers and the other half learning on the job through apprenticeships and traineeships.
For Māori, the restructuring also puts renewed attention on the role of wānanga.
Under the redesigned system, wānanga can provide work-based learning alongside polytechnics and private training establishments, giving them a potentially significant role in developing training that reflects tikanga Māori and the needs of whānau, iwi and Māori businesses.
That regional focus could be particularly important in areas where iwi and Māori employers need workers across construction, infrastructure, primary industries, hauora and other essential services.
But the wider labour market remains challenging.
While filled jobs increased slightly in June, Stats NZ says the number of jobs in professional, scientific and technical services was down 1.8 percent compared with a year earlier. Overall unemployment also increased from 5.4 percent in March to 5.6 percent in June.
The Government is also investing in vocational pathways. Budget 2026 included almost $69 million to double Trades Academy places to 20,000 by 2030 and $15 million for Industry Skills Boards to develop at least eight new industry-focused secondary school subjects.
The political argument heading into the election is increasingly about what happens after people enter those pathways.
For Halbert, training more apprentices will mean little if businesses cannot afford to employ them, qualified tradespeople continue heading overseas, or Māori learners cannot access the culturally responsive support needed to complete their training.
With unemployment rising and the vocational system being rebuilt at the same time, tertiary education is shaping up as another election battleground.
The challenge will be ensuring New Zealand does not simply train its next generation of skilled workers, but gives them enough reason to build their futures here.
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