OUR OUTCOME AND HOW WE PLAN TO ACHIEVE IT
• OUTCOME
• GOAL 1
• GOAL 2
• GOAL 3
• GOAL 4
OUTCOME:
Productive work and high-quality working lives
The Department aims to achieve productive work and high-quality working lives for New Zealanders.
- “Productive work” is about lifting economic value through more efficient and more effective work. It is about being innovative with technology and workplace organisation and culture to produce a higher volume or higher value of output.
- “High-quality working lives” are characterised by being safe, well-paid, flexible to enable a healthy work-life balance and offering a greater range of choices around participation in the workforce.
- Overall, productive work and high-quality working lives are rewarding and attractive for the individual, and important for both the social and the economic wellbeing of the country.
In this ideal future environment, participants will be well equipped with the skills they need to participate in the labour market in the ways that they want to, and employers will have a suitably skilled labour force to meet their needs.
Workplaces will be sufficiently appealing to attract and retain the skills and talent they require to be sustainable and to grow:
- Diverse populations (people with different abilities and disabilities, people from a variety of cultures, people in a variety of personal circumstances) will have sufficient, appropriate opportunities to work in inclusive, flexible workplaces.
- There will be sufficient, appropriate opportunities available to meet the learning and skill development needs of the labour force, throughout their working lives.
- As a result of workplace initiatives, skill development initiatives and targeted immigration strategies, there will be a strong, skilled labour force available to meet employers’ needs and increase productivity.
- Workforces and workplaces will be innovative, and technology will increasingly be used to effectively respond to market needs and improve the value (quality and quantity) of products and services.
- Productivity increases and economic growth will be sustained over the long term, benefiting the nation as a whole.
- Work will be organised in ways to enable people to do a range of things in their lives.
- Workplace cultures will engage staff in contributing towards workplace improvement.
- Health and safety systems will be in place, so people remain safe and healthy.
- Positive “good faith” employment relationships will exist.
Refined goals and priorities
In reviewing and re-orienting its work over this past year through strategic planning process, the Department of Labour has refined its long-term goals and priorities. The application of a new operating model to the Department’s work, together with a new prioritisation approach, resulted in a revision of what we see our primary long-term objectives and priorities to be.
The new long-term goals ensure better alignment with the Department’s new understanding of its purpose, and the revised, whole-of-department priorities will ensure that its activities will be effective in meeting these goals (see the outcomes framework diagram inside the front cover).
GOAL 1:
Our place in the world: New Zealand will prosper through its connections with the rest of the world
Why this is important
This long-term goal recognises that New Zealand’s connection with the world is crucial. The Department’s contribution to the goal is delivered in two intersecting ways – through the movement of people into and out of New Zealand (immigration and border security), and through international connections (multilateral, bilateral and Pacific region engagement).
Our prosperity will depend on the strength of our economy in comparison to other nations. If New Zealand is to achieve the Government’s goals of economic transformation, and opportunity and security for all families, within a knowledge-based economy, we must be positioned to take advantage of high rates of international migration, by supporting skilled migrants with the skills and expertise needed by our industries to settle well in New Zealand. Facilitation of short-term visits – by tourists, students and temporary workers – is also important to our economy and, by strengthening the connections between New Zealand and other countries, improves our ability over time to attract and retain the people we need.
New Zealand’s security as a nation depends on the way we manage our borders and stability in our region. Issues such as people smuggling, immigration fraud and identity fraud are international issues and will only be addressed through international cooperation and coordination.
The importance of New Zealand’s national identity – who we are, what we do, where we live and how we are seen by the world – is reflected in this long-term goal. New Zealand must influence, and be influenced by, the international labour market environment. On the one hand, this helps to ensure domestic labour laws, policy and practice are consistent with international standards and practices, and on the other, enables us to help ensure the international environment is conducive to New Zealand’s best interests. Our enterprises must be able to adopt international best practice or risk falling behind the world on labour market innovation and improvement.
Medium-term priority
Under this goal, our medium-term priority is supporting New Zealand’s prosperity, through:
- an immigration programme that adds to the richness of our society
- border security arrangements that manage risk
- making migrants feel welcome
- building relationships and partnering with other nations
- support for Pacific nations.
Why this is important in the medium term
People and skills are becoming increasingly mobile, with a tendency towards temporary or circular migration instead of permanent migration. In 2005, there were nearly 200 million migrants globally, compared with 82 million in 1970.
Large numbers of people move into and out of New Zealand every year. Some 14% of all people born in New Zealand are living overseas, while 20% of our population were born offshore. There is strong international competition for skilled workers, and this will increase as ageing populations in developed countries retire.
At the same time as we wish to attract skilled workers and visitors to New Zealand, we must manage the risks inherent in the increasing international mobility of people. With heightened awareness of international terrorism, there is a stronger focus on border security nationally and internationally. The Department’s management of New Zealand’s borders must continue to ensure that we keep out those who may adversely impact on our international, domestic and business communities, while facilitating the movement of people who bring value. New Zealand’s domestic security is also influenced by the security of the Pacific region. It is important that we support Pacific nations to become more economically stable through the development of strong labour markets and enhanced workforce skills.
It is also essential, for both national identity and economic transformation, that successful migrants are made to feel welcome and are assisted to settle well when they come to New Zealand. Factors like having a job, housing, connections with the community and support systems are all critical to helping people settle, feel welcome and make the best contribution they can to the economy and to New Zealand society.
The increasing pattern of mobility and globalisation has also highlighted the need for New Zealand to maintain key relationships with domestic and international stakeholders in order to influence the development of an international labour market that reflects New Zealand’s domestic interests. To this end, the Department seeks to build New Zealand’s reputation as an international “thought leader” on labour market law, policy and practice, by sharing knowledge about labour relations issues and profiling New Zealand’s domestic labour market successes and best practice. Knowledge sharing also means that international best practice is identified and informs our workplaces, our workforce and our people. Free trade negotiations also contribute in this way.
What this means for us
We need to work harder and smarter to attract skilled migrants and encourage short-term workers and visitors. To do this we need improved, faster facilitation of visas and permits for people we want, and smarter border processes to avoid potential risk. Good support, enabling people who come here to settle well, will ensure they contribute to social cohesion, productivity and economic development. Therefore, the Department is developing a new immigration service delivery model based on the following:
- Significantly enhanced online services for lodging and end-to-end processing of applications for visas and permits.
- Immigration decisions made for sovereignty, better quality and consistent decisions, and effective control.
- Greater specialisation of visa and permit processes within New Zealand, providing economies of scale and the opportunity for risks to be more readily identified and shared with other decision makers.
- The integration of border activity and visa and permit processes, through an integrated delivery model and appropriate IT support.
- World-class risk profiling, by translating information from border and intelligence activities, verification, visa and permit processing and other agencies into automated decision-making against the single client record.
- Tailoring and improving the quality of client services to meet customer needs, including increased use of technology for self-service and more intensive use of face-to-face contact in areas like the Pacific.
- Transforming the configuration and
resourcing of the delivery network to be
more effectively aligned to the tasks required. This includes automating high-volume low-value administrative work. - Information and outreach to target talent, better enabling New Zealand to compete for talent in a globally-competitive market.
The Department is increasingly looking to ensure that the knowledge and value gained through its international connections is maximised by domestic stakeholders. We also take account of international best practice already in existence in other countries, to contribute to New Zealand’s domestic labour law, policy and practice.
Action to achieve the priority
The following activities are, or will be, directed towards achieving the medium-term priority:
- Facilitating the movement of people into and out of New Zealand through a modern intelligence-based immigration system with a strong legislative foundation; a repositioned and sound, future-focused policy framework; and a business model that is fit for the 21st century.
- Effective border security to facilitate the movement of people we do want and keep out the people we don’t want.
- Supporting
effective settlement by leading the implementation of the New Zealand
Settlement Strategy, providing information
to assist potential migrants, community outreach, employer engagement, and settlement support activity and family reunification. - Multilateral and bilateral international activity including:
- participating in, and influencing, international labour institutions/forums
- contributing to setting relevant and effective international labour standards
- ensuring international obligations are met
- leading the labour components of free trade negotiations and implementation
- sharing knowledge and influencing domestically, based on international engagement.
- Influencing Pacific states to develop and manage their own border security arrangements consistent with New Zealand’s interests.
Details about the
Department’s outputs and activities for 2006/07 are set out in the Statement
of Forecast Service Performance
in Part B.
Who we will be working with
The Department will continue to work with a wide range of domestic and international stakeholders, ranging from Business New Zealand; the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU); New Zealand government agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand Customs Service and Ministry of Economic Development; multilateral organisations such as the International Labour Organisation, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the OECD; and overseas governments such as Australia.
Measuring progress towards the goal
We will know how we are progressing towards our goal by monitoring indicators in the following three areas:
- Migration – Flows of people and the accompanying knowledge and ideas
are important contributors to the demographic make-up of New Zealand’s
population and the deepening of New Zealand’s international connections.
Indicators include: permanent and long-term migration, number of skilled migrants (departures and arrivals), number of permanent residence approvals.
- Social cohesion – Migrants and refugees need to be well settled before
they can participate in and contribute to New Zealand society and the
economy.
Indicators include: employment rates of migrants and refugees, satisfaction of migrants with available services.
- International connections
– Our international connections ensure that skills and knowledge transfer
improve the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
Indicators include: international education connections, the number of formal requests for bilateral participation, assistance or advice in relation to New Zealand labour law, policy and practice.
Associated research and evaluative activity
The following research and evaluation projects will be undertaken over the next two to three years to inform our monitoring of progress and to assist us in continuously improving our policies and practices:
- Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants (LISNZ) – to provide reliable and authoritative data about migrants’ initial settlement experiences and the outcomes of immigration.
- Economic Impacts of Migration – a large multi-year research programme on the economic impacts of immigration.
- Pacific Research – to examine outcomes for migrants in their host country as well as outcomes for the source country (focusing on migrants from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji).
- International Trade Negotiations – exploration of international evidence on impacts and outcomes of free trade negotiations on the movement of nationals.
- Settlement Support New Zealand (SSNZ) – to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of SSNZ initiatives.
Goal 2:
Our workplaces: New Zealand workplaces will lead the world in maximising the value of work while providing a high quality working life
Why this is important
Lifting workplace productivity is a critical part of creating long-term sustainable economic growth for all New Zealanders. We have to increase the value produced for every hour worked if we are to move to a high-value high-wage economy. Workplaces need to be attractive places to work, and embrace new ways of working and new technology, while also providing high-quality working lives and helping New Zealand attract and retain a globally-skilled workforce.
Attractive and productive workplaces promote safe and healthy workplace cultures, positive employment relationships, Work-Life balance, innovative practices and employee involvement in decision-making. These workplaces are likely to be more productive because they provide an environment where employees are willing to ‘go the extra mile’, where days are not lost to injuries, and where workers are properly recruited, developed and retained. By encouraging workplaces to adopt better workplace practices and cultures, we will improve the productivity of individual businesses and New Zealand overall.
Medium-term priority
Our medium-term priority is supporting and promoting the transformation of New Zealand workplaces to become high-performing and to achieve high-quality working lives by focusing on the drivers of workplace productivity – skills, safe and healthy workplace cultures, decent work and excellent employment relationships.
Why this is important in the medium term
Over the last five years, economic growth has largely come from more people in the working population, more people in the labour force and more hours worked. Although further gains can be made from getting more New Zealanders into work, economic growth based predominantly on increasing numbers of people cannot be sustained in an environment of low population growth, low unemployment and skill shortages. We need to lift productivity if we are going to achieve sustainable economic growth in the future.
Future economic growth and social wellbeing rest on how well the economy and labour market adjust to new challenges posed by globalisation, technology and demographic changes. We need to make economic gains by working smarter, creating more high-value work and doing less low-value work. For New Zealand to become a world leader in workforce and workplace performance, workplaces need to shift beyond minimum standards and adopt practices that will make them more productive and increase the value of their work, creating economic and social wealth.
What this means for us
In the past, the Department has mostly focused on regulating for minimum labour market standards and ensuring compliance with these standards.
Ensuring that all New Zealanders have access to decent work, in places where minimum workplace standards are met, will always be important to the Department. However, we believe we can add more value by:
- understanding our “market”
- identifying best practice
- providing targeted information and guidance
- improving and sharing workplace knowledge
- positively influencing sectors and industries to encourage them to manage their own workplace issues
- providing the right tailored solution to address the underlying causes of workplace issues instead of focusing on symptoms.
We are committed to creating value for workplaces, people who work in them, and all New Zealanders. We will work with industry and sector groups, unions, employer groups, other government agencies and non-government organisations to achieve this. The Department’s and targeted services to assist workplaces in the most efficient way.
We want an environment that supports workplace productivity by promoting an inclusive view of workplace issues, encouraging and rewarding best practice, and providing sanctions for breaches of minimum standards. We will continue to use targeted enforcement to support behaviour change and discourage anti-competitive and unlawful behaviour.
The holistic approach we take to the whole policy cycle provides the discussion and thinking that informs what we do and how we provide our services. We will continue to evaluate the impact of the policies we develop and services we provide to inform and improve what we do.
To enable us to achieve this, we are:
- implementing a Primary Contact Strategy to expand our reach and provide a range of channels and tools for clients to access consistent information and guidance to improve their workplace practices
- implementing a new regional service delivery structure to: engage with stakeholders, industries and sectors to meet regional needs; develop national standards and deliver them consistently in an appropriate way for local workplaces; and enable staff to take a holistic approach to diagnose underlying causes and provide tailored solutions to resolve workplace issues and support improved workplace practices
- optimising our policy cycle to underpin our work and sharpen our approach in the areas of intellectual leadership and evaluation.
Action to achieve the priority
The following activities are, or will be, directed towards achieving the medium-term priority:
- Leading the implementation of the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy.
- Working with employers and industries to identify and address barriers to improving workplace practice and productivity, through initiatives such as the Workplace Productivity Agenda.
- Providing high-quality and consistent information and guidance through websites, e-mail, the contact centre, industry, and employee and employer groups.
- Improving the position of vulnerable employees in workplaces.
- Building and sharing knowledge about workplace best practice through websites, the Small Business Information Unit, roadshows, publications, the Partnership Resource Centre, and the Pay and Employment Equity Unit.
- Working with other organisations including industry groups, unions and employer groups to influence workplaces to improve workplace practices.
- Delivering the right mix of services to address the underlying causes of workplace problems and to encourage the adoption and broad acceptance of workplace best practice.
- Working with industries and sectors to encourage them to take responsibility for managing their own workplace productivity issues.
- Maintaining minimum standards through a strategic, targeted enforcement regime.
- Applying sound research and evaluation practices to better understand how our interventions contribute to better social and economic outcomes.
- Leading and influencing other agencies so that the government is, and is seen to be, a workplace practice leader.
- Providing holistic policy advice to government about workplace issues based on an understanding of the performance of the labour market and key elements within it.
- Contributing to the development of the Government’s policy priorities including economic transformation and ensuring effective and efficient regulation.
Details about the Department’s outputs and activities for 2006/07
are set out in the Statement of Forecast Service Performance
in Part B.
Who we will be working with
The Department has established relationships with, and will continue working to understand the evolving needs of employers and employees at the industry, sector and regional level. This includes our on-going working relationships with our social partners: Business New Zealand and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU). This places the Department in a strong position to facilitate solutions or to partner/lead national initiatives.
The Department also has strong ties internationally through the International Labour Organisation, and through country-by-country relationships. These relationships enable the Department to share internationally New Zealand best practice and to facilitate the spread of international best practice to firms and sectors within New Zealand.
The Department leads or contributes to the work of a range of agencies dealing with workplace issues (e.g. the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Environmental Risk Management Authority, local authorities) and works across government on a range of issues affecting the performance of workplaces and their contribution to the economic transformation of New Zealand.
Measuring progress towards the goal
We will know how we are progressing towards our goal by monitoring indicators in the following three areas:
- Productivity – Labour productivity measures the amount of output produced per unit of labour input.
- Indicators include: the capital-labour ratio and multi-factor productivity.
- Workplace practices – There is a growing body of international literature examining the links and roles of workplace practices with firm performance.
- Indicators include: industrial disputes, number of work days lost to work-related injury and diseases, rates of fatal injuries.
- Quality of working lives – International evidence suggests that employees often rate the ‘qualitative’ aspects of their employment on a par with wages and income.
- Indicators include: average working hours,
occurrences of flexible working hours, incorporation of work-life balance
policies
in workplaces.
Associated research and evaluative activity
The following research and evaluation projects will be undertaken over the next two to three years to inform our monitoring of progress and to assist us in continuously improving our policies and practices:
- Linked Employer-Employee Dataset – using Statistics New Zealand’s integrated business and tax data to investigate the labour market dynamics of firms and workers.
- Workplace Information – a new survey on individuals’ employment conditions and working arrangements is being developed which will enable us to monitor changes in working arrangements over time.
- Evaluation of a number of initiatives:
• Work-Life Balance initiative.
• Paid Parental Leave – parental leave provisions for self-employed women, flexible working hours and career breaks.
• Return to Sustainable Earnings – various aspects of the ACC scheme.
• Partnership Resource Centre – workplace interventions with employers and unions, case studies of good practice, and follow-up research on attitudes of employers and unions to workplace partnership and international experiences of partnership.
• Sector and Regional Engagement – impact of engagement on labour market outcomes and Government policy and practice.
• Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action – an evaluation framework will be developed in 2006/07.
• Workplace Productivity Agenda – the impact of a diagnostic tool developed by the Department for use by employers in analysing and changing their workplace practices, and evaluation of Phase 1 of the CTU Workplace Productivity Education Programme.
• Workplace Policy Health and Safety – health outcomes of timber workers exposed to pentachlorophenol.
GOAL 3:
Our workforce: The skills of our workers will ensure New Zealand enterprises are leaders internationally
Why this is important
Developing a skilled and productive workforce and improving the number of globally-competitive New Zealand firms is a cornerstone of the economic transformation agenda. Skill shortages need to be addressed to ensure our workforce is able to support growth and provide the key skills businesses require now. We need to ensure the country has the talent necessary to drive future business performance in a global environment of ageing workforces, labour mobility and competition for skills. This means developing skills at all levels, from functional literacy to managerial and leadership capability. We need to attract and retain key skilled individuals from around the world. It is closely linked to improving workplace practices so that industries and firms continue to develop and make best use of the skills of their existing workforce.
Medium-term priority
Under this goal, our medium-term priority is influencing the supply of skilled labour by:
- better targeting the immigration programme
- working with industry and education sectors to match educational services to the needs of our workers, employers and the economy.
Why this is important in the medium term
Since 2000, there have been significant changes in the labour market which have been accompanied by skill shortages across the economy. Although these have eased slightly in recent quarters, they remain at historically high levels.
Particular trades’ and professional occupations’ training levels are insufficient to meet new demand for skilled labour through job creation and replacing demand from out migration and retirement. In other instances, such as some of the professions, training rates are adequate to meet demand but workplace conditions are insufficiently attractive to attract and retain workers.
The global economy is able to provide many of the skilled and talented migrants needed to support the existing workforce. Properly matched, talented and skilled migrants enhance the local workforce by sharing skills, experiences and knowledge, leading to innovation. These workers bring access to networks and knowledge not always available to New Zealanders.
The international market for skills and talent is highly competitive, as many countries are seeking to increase economic competitiveness based on improving productivity and skills. New Zealand faces particular challenges around maintaining and attracting talent because there has always been net outflow of New Zealand-born workers.
What this means for us
The Department will seek to help industries, sectors, regions and other agencies balance the range of possible responses to skill and labour issues. This will include initiatives such as improving skill development and utilisation, short- and longer-term immigration responses, and changes to industry and workplace practices that, for example, make skill development or attracting and retaining skilled workers possible.
Action to achieve the priority
The following activities are, or will be, directed towards achieving the medium-term priority:
- Helping sectors develop short- and long-term action plans to develop a sustainable labour pool for their industries (“sector engagement”).
- Developing immigration delivery systems and policies based on an intimate knowledge of New Zealand’s needs into the future and where talent can be sourced.
- Sophisticated marketing strategies, starting with the creation of a brand that allows us to consistently market the opportunities for living and working in New Zealand.
- Policy development, coordination, integration and review of the factors that influence skills and labour supply and demand.
- Tailoring labour market information to provide sectors with a comprehensive picture of skill and labour shortages and key influences on their labour market so they can readily identify appropriate responses.
Details about the Department’s outputs and activities for 2006/07 are set out in the Statement of Forecast Service Performance in Part B.
Who we will be working with
Increasingly, the Department will need to work with employer groups and industry sectors to help identify skills gaps in New Zealand that cannot be met through short-term training, and target sources for those skills in overseas markets, including:
- key employer, employee and industry bodies such as Business New Zealand, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce, to identify strategic workforce development opportunities
- employers and industry, to improve workplace practices that facilitate skill development and utilisation
- strategic partners such as the Tertiary Education Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Social Development, to align education and training policies to support industry.
Measuring progress towards the goal
We will know how we are progressing by monitoring indicators in the following three areas:
- Educational attainment – Highly-skilled and educated
people are critical to improving incomes and productivity.
• Indicators include: trends in percentages of school leavers with no qualification, number of trainees in industry training, including modern apprenticeships.
- Skill shortages – Skill shortages occur when firms have difficulties
filling vacancies because the demand for labour exceeds supply.
• Indicators include: trends in percentages
of firms reporting difficulty in finding skilled and unskilled staff, and job vacancy fill rates by broad occupational class.
- Migration flows
– Flows of people and the accompanying knowledge and ideas are important
contributors to the demographic make-up of New Zealand’s population and
the deepening of its international connections.
• Indicators include: trends in permanent and long-term migration, trends in skilled migration, and employment rates of skilled migrants.
Associated research and evaluative activity
The following research and evaluation projects will be undertaken over the next two to three years to monitor progress and to assist us in continuously improving our policies and practices:
- Surveys of skilled migrants and employers of skilled migrants – to monitor the outcomes for skilled migrants through a regular survey of employers of skilled migrants and skilled migrants follow-up survey.
- Assessment of the Long-Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL) and Talent Visas – to evaluate how well ‘work to residence’ policy changes are working.
- “NetworkZ” programme evaluation – to evaluate an online initiative to “connect globally to meet employers’ skill needs from offshore labour markets”.
- Foundation Skills in Seasonal Workplaces – to explore what mechanisms are appropriate for introducing foundation skills learning in the workplace and how learning improves productivity.
GOAL 4:
Our people: All New Zealanders will be able to grow and develop through access to well-paid and meaningful employment.
Why this is important
Continued growth in employment is leading to a very tight labour market. This will be exacerbated over the coming decades as the population ages. It is critical that all people who are able to work are supported to do so.
High-quality meaningful employment means work is rewarding and attractive, giving a sense of pride and purpose. New Zealanders need opportunities to fully realise their potential. Enabling more people to participate in paid work, particularly meaningful higher-value work, means more New Zealanders achieve an enhanced quality of life. This ultimately supports greater social cohesion and economic growth.
In the short term, this work should result in increases in the availability of skills and labour for firms and reduce stress, improve incomes and enhance care arrangements for individuals and families. Medium-term benefits are expected to come from better use of skills, increased productivity and consistently high-quality care. Longer-term outcomes include sustained productivity growth, population growth/maintenance and improved early childhood outcomes.
Medium-term priority
Under this goal, our medium-term priority is supporting increased labour market participation by leading the Government’s work programme on:
- enhancing parents’ and other carers’ choices about work and family arrangements
- assisting transitions for youth into employment
- enhancing employment for groups under-represented in the labour force.
Why this is important in the medium term
The labour market is still tight, despite already high levels of workforce participation. This trend is likely to continue over the coming decades. People who are able to work must be supported to enter into employment. Barriers to participation that have prevented or discouraged New Zealanders from seeking employment must be removed – particularly parents and carers, young people, people with disabilities, older people, Maori, Pacific people, migrants and refugees.
There is evidence that the labour market skills and experiences of carers are often underutilised, with many families experiencing difficulties accessing quality childcare and achieving work-life balance. The short-term benefits of achieving a better balance between work and caring responsibilities for businesses include increased availability and better use of skills and labour. For individuals and families, benefits include reduced stress, better care arrangements and higher incomes. The longer-term benefits include sustained productivity through on-going labour market involvement by experienced people and the best start in life for children.
What this means for us
The Department will be positioned on a growing depth of understanding of the labour market to act in a proactive and coordinated manner, identifying and prioritising key participation issues. A coordinated approach, across the whole of the Department and government, will mean better targeting of resources and activity in ways more likely to result in improving participation outcomes for key groups. Overseas experience suggests that integrating complementary measures across areas of government intervention is most likely to be effective in achieving durable outcomes.
Action to achieve the priority
The following activities are, or will be, directed towards achieving the medium-term priority:
- World-class paid parental leave scheme.
- Leading the Government’s work programme on enhancing parents’ and other carers’ choices (EPOCC)12 aiming to enhance choices for those in the labour market, including a focus on how work and caring roles are allocated across households.
- Designing career advice and guidance for mature workers.
- Leading a major inter-agency project to improve transitions from school to work and further education (in partnership with central government and the local government Mayoral Task Force for Jobs).
- Providing
broad policy advice to government and disseminating best-practice workplace
culture and practice, and practice initiatives, in partnership with employers
and industry, through the:
• Workplace Productivity Agenda and toolkit
• Work-Life Balance project
• The Workplace Project
• National Survey of Employers
• Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action
• New Zealand Disability Strategy Implementation Plan
• Pacific Strategy, Maori Strategy and Ethnic Responsiveness Strategy.
Details about the Department’s outputs and activities for 2006/07 are set out in the Statement of Forecast Service Performance in Part B.
Who we will be working with
The Department of Labour will collaborate with a range of government and business agencies to support workplaces to adapt to the changing labour market environment, and to encourage under-represented groups in the workforce to participate, including:
- the local government Mayoral Task Force for Jobs
- key population agencies and offices, including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, the Ministry of Youth Development, Te Puni Kokiri, the Office of Disability Issues and the Office for Senior Citizens
- the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
Measuring progress towards the goal
We will know how we are progressing towards our goal by monitoring indicators in the following three areas:
- Labour utilisation – Labour utilisation measures the number of hours
worked per head of population per year
Indicators include: growth in aggregate labour utilisation, labour force participation rate, unemployment rate and employment rate.
- Pay – Ultimately, economic growth is only beneficial
to the extent that it raises the incomes and living standards of New
Zealanders. Data on real wages provides an indicator of how growth is
translating into changes in income levels over time
• Indicators include: real median and average hourly earnings, income inequality, proportion of the population with lower living standards.
- Satisfaction – A person’s
economic and social wellbeing will be maximised through maintaining a
balance between paid work and other aspects of their lives.
• Indicators include: proportion of the workforce in higher-skill job categories, incorporation of work-life balance policies and paid parental leave take-up.
Associated research and evaluative activity
The following research and evaluation project will be undertaken over the next two to three years to inform our monitoring of progress and to assist us in continuously improving our policies and practices:
- Research to inform the “Enhancing Parents’ and other Carers’ Choices” initiative, including the development of a childcare survey, a study of decision-making amongst parents and carers, and developing knowledge on other carers and their needs.