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Major spending decisions
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Regular progress updates are published for the below initiatives as part of the Government’s requirements for reporting on major spending decisions.
Employment Services – Investing in Frontline Staff and Employment Programmes (Budget 2025)
This initiative enables the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to maintain critical employment spending for the next two years, to help get more people into work and make progress towards the Jobseeker Reduction Target. Time limited funding of $343.300 million has been allocated using the joint Treasury and MSD invest-to-save framework and net savings of $147.255 million are forecast.
Further information regarding the initiative, including a breakdown of the costs and savings, can be found on our website.
Deliverables and planned timeline
The initiative contains three key components:
- Maintaining current levels of case management – the initiative funds the continuation of 490 time-limited frontline staff, primarily case managers. This funding begins on 1 October 2025 when the previous time-limited funding for these staff is due to expire, and lasts two years until 30 September 2027.
- Continuing employment programmes – the initiative enables MSD to continue delivering key employment programmes. Funding began on 1 July 2025 given previous time-limited funding expired at the end of the 2024/25 financial year, and lasts two years until 30 June 2027. This includes the following programmes:
- Flexi-wage
- Regional Employment Placement Programmes
- Here Toitū and Individual Placement and Support
- Skills for Industry.
- Expanding Community Job Coaching – the initiative also funds an expansion of Community Job Coaching for up to 6,000 clients. These clients will also be eligible for bonus payments if they remain off-benefit for 12 months.
- This funding began on 1 July 2025, and lasts two years until 30 June 2027.
- Contracts for the new Community Job Coaching service will commence by November 2025.
- Year one will deliver the service to 4,000 young Jobseeker clients, expanding to up to 6,000 in year two of the programme.
Intended results
The primary outcome of this funding will be that employment services and programmes support a greater number of people off benefit and into work which will support the Jobseeker Reduction Target, getting more New Zealanders into employment and participating in the economy while also resulting in savings to the Crown.
Indicators of performance and value for money
MSD provided a monitoring and evaluation plan for the initiative to the Minister for Social Development and Employment and the Minister of Finance at the end of June 2025.
| Performance indicators | Performance to 31 December 2025 | Comment |
| Initiative savings |
Not available. Initiative savings require the initiative to be in place before any evaluation and calculation of savings can be completed. |
|
| Number of people through face-to-face service (case management) |
Not available. The face-to-face service reporting is not available yet. |
|
| Number of people through phone-based case management service (case management) |
Not available. The phone-based case management reporting is not available yet. |
|
| Number of people through Community Job Coaches Service |
Not available. This initiative commenced late in 2025 with reporting not yet available. |
|
| Number of people through flexi-wage | 3,165 | |
| Number of people through skills for industry |
Not available. This initiative commenced late in 2025 with reporting not yet available. |
|
| Number of people through regional employment placement services |
Not available. This initiative commenced late in 2025 with reporting not yet available. |
Frequency of reporting
As part of the Government’s requirements for reporting on major spending decisions, MSD is required to publicly report on this initiative twice-yearly on our website, and annually in our Annual Report (beginning in 2026).
MSD will also report on this initiative to the Minister for Social Development and Employment and the Treasury as part of the quarterly reporting on the Jobseeker Reduction target.
Apprenticeship Boost (Budget 2024)
Progress updates
Apprenticeship Boost is a multi-agency collaboration. The Ministry of Education is responsible for its policy, the Tertiary Education Commission checks eligibility, and MSD manages applications and payments.
Progress updates will be managed by the Ministry of Education and MSD will contribute to these.
Updates will be published on the Ministry of Education's website once every 6 months, starting in June 2025.
About Apprenticeship Boost
Apprenticeship Boost was first introduced in August 2020 as part of the Government’s wider Apprenticeship Support Programme. It was a cross-agency response to help support apprentices and employers to manage the impacts of COVID-19.
Apprenticeship Boost was made permanent in Budget 2024.
From 1 January 2025, Apprenticeship Boost will support first year apprentices only, in industries with identified skills shortages.
You can find out more about Apprenticeship Boost, and which industries are targeted, on the Tertiary Education Commission and Ministry of Social Development’s websites.