How might we attract and keep the next generation of talent?
New Zealand is facing a generational shortfall in its workforce. workin exists to guide young people and rangatahi into the careers that will build the country, and to make the way in simple.
A generational shortfall.
The country has a decade of infrastructure to deliver and an ageing workforce to deliver it. At the same time, a record number of young people are looking for a start.
Across New Zealand's critical industries, an estimated 200,000 more people are required by 2036 to meet the infrastructure and services already forecast. Power, water, construction, transport, health and more.
Youth unemployment is at its highest level in more than 30 years. In the year to March 2026, 17.3% of New Zealanders aged 15 to 24 were out of work and looking for it.
The people are here. The work is here. What is missing is a clear pathway between the two.
Sources: workin workforce model, cumulative shortfall across ten critical industries to 2036. Stats NZ Household Labour Force Survey, year to March 2026, as reported by 1News, June 2026.
Frictionless pathways into work that matters.
workin profiles the critical industries with real demand for workers, shows you where you fit, and lays out the way in. Nothing to sign up for. Nothing to pay.
The industries that need you
Ten critical industries profiled in plain language. The roles, the pay, the day to day, and the people already doing the work.
Explore industries 02 · MatchWhere you fit
Career Match reads how you like to think and work, then matches you to the industries and roles built for it. Thirty quick questions. Free.
Start Career Match 03 · GoThe way in
Every role comes with a pathway. The qualification, how long it takes, what it costs, and who is taking on apprentices right now.
See the pathwaysTrain with confidence.Every industry on workin has real demand for workers. There is work at the end of your qualification.
You can't choose a career you've never seen.
The more time I spent working with New Zealand's essential industries, the more obvious the problem became. Industries face critical workforce shortages. Many young people have no idea those opportunities exist. The gap is a lack of connection between the two.
Too often, career choices are shaped by chance. If you don't know someone in an industry, you may never discover it. workin was built to change that.
Sometimes the right career isn't out of reach. It's simply out of sight.
Simon Holbrook
Founder · workin.
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