13 interim Regional Skills Leadership Groups have been announced and are in the process of holding their inaugural meetings. The initial focus for the Groups is to pull together local intelligence and insights that will help to identify better ways of meeting skills and workforce needs now and in the future.

The Groups are regionally based and regionally led, drawing together leaders who are already active in their communities, and who represent expertise across employment, business, industry, local iwi and Māori, and government.

Initial meetings have already taken place in some regions and Group members have shown enthusiasm in contributing their local knowledge. Through the Group, they will be supporting a joined-up approach to labour market planning which will see our workforce, education and immigration systems working together to better meet the differing skills needs across the country.

A total of 15 interim Groups are being swiftly set up for a period of one year, to support the immediate response to the regional labour market impacts and disruption arising from COVID-19. The two final Groups are in the process of being established and will be announced shortly.

For more information about the Groups, visit the MBIE website.