ICT and LMI

The "Labour market factors affect the opportunities available to people.  Some industries and occupations decline, whereas others grow dramatically” (Inkson et al., 2015, p. 37). While labour markets have experienced turbulent times since 2020 - with downward trends in industries like hospitality and tourism - other sectors, such as Information Technology, are busier. 

By 2021, the New Zealand information and communication technology (ICT) sector was up 39% from 2019, reaching $13 billion (Statistics New Zealand, 2022). IT design, consulting, and development sales were up 34% ($3.4 billion); IT technical support sales were up 23% (3.1 billion); and hosting and IT infrastructure services were 48% ($2.5 billion) (Statistics New Zealand, 2022). Post-Covid, workplaces have continued to increase their ICT spending. 

ICT as a sector is still hiring, as IT needs continue to grow, as reported in the recently published Global Digital Skills Index by Salesforce (2022). What is required to achieve the sector increases are outlined in the draft copy of Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan 2022-2032 (MBIE, 2022). 

Many industries are now more reliant on advances in technology to enable growth and development to continue; but continuing technical and skills training will be needed to keep up. There are some interesting links related to the generation gaps. ""More than two thirds of younger workers (64%) say they have advanced social media skills — supporting the stereotype of digital mastery among the younger generation — but less than a third (31%) believe they have the advanced digital workplace skills needed by businesses now. A third of younger workers are actively learning and training for skills needed over the next five years compared to 12% of older workers (Salesforce, 2022).

In 2023 with the release of LLM AI models, the need to upskill became even more important. New Zealand’s adoption of AI is hesitant, with larger businesses investing: "A 2024 Datacom survey revealed that 67% of larger New Zealand businesses now utilise some form of AI, representing a substantial increase from 48% in 2023" (MBIE, 2026). Yet of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), 68% "have no plans to evaluate or invest in AI" (MBIE, 2026), as compared to "only 38% of Australian SMEs".

I am not sure if this will disadvantage us or not; and I guess only time will tell.

Sam

References:

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

MBIE. (2022). Consultation for Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan 2022-2032. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/consultation-for-digital-technologies-industry-transformation-plan/

MBIE. (2026). New Zealand’s state of play. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/economic-growth/digital-policy/new-zealands-ai-strategy-investing-with-confidence/new-zealands-state-of-play

Salesforce. (2022). New Digital Skills Index from Salesforce Reveals 76% of Global Workers Say They Are Unequipped for the Future of Work. https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2022/01/27/digital-skills-index-update/

Statistics New Zealand (2022). Information and communication technology sector booming during COVID-19. https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/information-and-communication-technology-sector-booming-during-covid-19

* NotebookLM was used to create the image accompanying this post