Direct Career Guidance Service - Budget 2023

Expanding career advice services to support people who want to enter the workforce or change jobs - Wellbeing Budget 2023.

This initiative expands the services MSD provides to economically displaced workers and others needing help to get work, return to work or transition between jobs.

The Government is investing $2 million over two years (2023/24 to 2024/25) to increase the capacity of the over-subscribed Direct Career Guidance Service (DCS), which provides personalised career advice from qualified, professional career practitioners.

• DCS is a support service for people who want to transition into new or different work. It includes both a light-touch phone service and a face-to-face service located in MSD service centres. The service is provided by contracted Career Practitioners, who have appropriate professional qualifications.
• In addition to cost pressure funding to ensure continuation of the service, Budget 2023 supports an expansion of capacity, securing ongoing service from the professional career guidance workforce by lifting remuneration closer to market rates, and conducting an impact evaluation to establish effectiveness in achieving employment outcomes.
• Evaluations in 2021-2022 indicated that DCS is valued by the more than 12,000 people who used it during that period. If uptake continues to be high as expected, more New Zealanders will be supported through the increase in capacity.
• International evidence indicates that career guidance is useful in supporting workers back into the labour force. It supports workers to be confident that they can find new roles that use their skills, highlights pathways between sectors and roles, and assists in job searches with labour market information.
• Clients who have previously used the face-to-face service being expanded through this funding are predominantly women (58%), with around 30% Māori, 24% aged under 25 and 19% aged over 50.
• The face-to-face service has higher than average numbers of Māori users, both on and not on benefit. Offering this form of interpersonal support can have a greater impact than just providing career information online.