FutureworkNZ blog

A blog by Commission staff

This was set up to generate ideas and promote debate for our Technological change and the future of work inquiry.

We welcome robust, respectful and insightful thoughts and ideas. Please post your comments at the bottom of blog posts. Comments are moderated and won't appear immediately.

About the blog

The Commission has completed its inquiry into Technological change and the future of work. Thanks to everyone who read and commented on this blog! Read the final inquiry report and recommendations to Government here.

I dropped maths at school – what happened?

23 January 2020

In my final year of school, I completely dropped maths and science – resulting in a conference with …

Educating New Zealand’s future workforce

22 January 2020

Do you remember your first day at school? The education I received was for a very different world th…

New Year’s resolutions

7 January 2020

The first week back at work after the new year is the most popular time to look for a new job.

Where are all the part-time students?

19 December 2019

You’d think that with low unemployment and ever-improving technology for distance education, the pro…

Generalist to specialist

5 December 2019

Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage…

Bite-sized learning

3 December 2019

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning c…

Getting the chop

25 November 2019

I’ve been made redundant. There, I’ve said it. Admittedly, it happened a long time ago. In 1986 I st…

Get more people to push – or fix the engine?

21 November 2019

The Commission’s second draft report Employment, labour markets and income, for the Technological ch…

Redundancy pay – a redundant policy tool?

20 November 2019

Redundancy pay is a rather primitive form of insurance or “income smoothing”. It’s an old technology…

Redundancy pay – who and what is it good for?

18 November 2019

Redundancy (or severance) pay is an old technology to protect people from the risks and costs of job…

How dynamic is the New Zealand labour market?

4 November 2019

Two new Productivity Commission reports tell us that the New Zealand labour market is characterised …

How effective are ALMPs?

30 October 2019

The success of an Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP) will depend a lot on the type of programme and …

Low spending on ALMPs is not a good reason to increase it

21 October 2019

Based on OECD comparisons, New Zealand’s overall spending on Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) a…

When is a policy that helps people be in work not an ALMP?

9 October 2019

Answer: When it’s a childcare subsidy available to other low-income households.

The confidence of youth

3 October 2019

Young people have a strong belief that technology will shape their future but what types of skills a…

How important is human capital to productivity?

18 September 2019

Have you ever done a MOOC? After completing four separate degrees and ten years at university, you w…

Who should invest their money between workers’ ears?

22 July 2019

Training is an investment in “embodied human capital” – assets stored in workers’ heads.

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FutureworkNZ blog

A blog by Commission staff

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Debunking fallacies – couldn’t say it better myself

Guest post: The Internet should be for all New Zealanders, so why isn’t it?

From sewing machinist to software programmer

What makes a job a good job?