Workforce Industry and Skills Planning study

Description

RFx ID: 31957736 Organisation: Waikato District Council Open date: Monday, 30 June 2025 11:00 AM +12:00 Close date: Wednesday, 30 July 2025 2:00 PM +12:00 Categories: 80000000 - Management and Business Professionals and Administrative Services 81000000 - Engineering and Research and Technology Based Services Region: Auckland Bay of Plenty Waikato Overview: Waikato District Council (“WDC”) welcomes offer of proposals to undertake: a study to identify, understand, and make recommendations on the Waikato district’s workforce and skills needs now and into the future. The objective of the piece of work is to conduct research into the Waikato district’s workforce and skills needs over the next 5, 10 and 20 years and make recommendations to address the current skills gap in our resident population and recommendations on activities required to prepare our future labour force to fulfil the future projected needs of employers in the district and beyond (Auckland and Hamilton where we know residents work). To include a view of the future economy, to then understand what workforce skill sets are needed. This will include a summary of the current training, including tertiary and vocational in the district and what provider gaps (formal and informal) there are as well as what barriers exist in our townships that inhibit access to vocational training i.e. transport barriers, poverty, lack of entry qualifications, literacy and numeracy levels etc. It is evident from district level data supplied by infometrics and insights shared by residents, community service organisations and employers that there are pockets of adult illiteracy in our townships and it is apparent that this is a is a barrier to our residents obtaining meaningful employment and increasing their earning potential over time. We would also like to understand where it is believed that a failure at the secondary school level is a contributor to the adult literacy and numeracy skills gap or if there are other factors at play. This report will be used to support the development of the economic development work programme and to advocate with training providers, funders and central government agencies to invest in enhanced secondary, tertiary and vocational training provision in our district. If there are identified barriers to establishing providers within the district, this research will also be used to advocate for greater accessibility to providers near our district such as Wintec, The University of Waikato, Manukau Institute of Technology, Te Waanaga o Aotearoa and AUT University Southern Campus, ITO’s and private TO’s. Additionally, this report will be used to guide economic development activities implemented under Waikato 2070 Growth and Development Strategy, that enable and support the development of our local workforce including facilitation of capabil