Kia ora koutou,
I hope you and your teams are well and staying healthy through winter. It has been a difficult time for a lot of businesses, and I acknowledge the commitment it takes to focus on investing in the future through training while the economy is slow.
In this eNews we have a number of product and event updates, the launch detail for our reduced enrolment fee promotion, along with a focus on the extra support you and your trainees can access while training with Connexis.
As Connexis transitions out of Te Pūkenga at the end of the year, we want to reassure you that there will be no changes to your training experience with us.
- Connexis will continue to be your national infrastructure training provider.
- Training programmes, services, and your Connexis contact person will remain the same.
- All trainees and apprentices will continue to be fully supported through to the completion of their training programme and award of their qualification.
- We will continue to be taking enrolments as usual.
With this transition, we are pleased to be able to refocus our attention on the national provision of infrastructure training. To support this renewed focus, we’re offering reduced enrolment fees for select infrastructure training programmes from 04 August to 31 October 2025. This initiative is designed to make it easier for you to upskill your team and invest in the future of your workforce while the strength of our economy slowly returns.
Last month, the Government confirmed detail on the new Industry Skills Boards (ISBs) which will be replacing the current Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) at the end of this year. The ISBs will be the new standard setting bodies, developing qualifications, endorsing programmes, undertaking workforce analysis and providing advice into the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), the funding body.
The great news is that Infrastructure has a dedicated ISB and this will be the entity Connexis will transition into at the end of this year. Connexis will not be fully integrated into the ISB but will instead operate as a distinct business division within the ISB. This step is to help return work-based learning to be industry led and owned.
If you are interested in keeping up to date with the VET changes, you can do so by visiting our VET Review page on our website.
We are also continuing to showcase the opportunities of infrastructure trade apprenticeships and careers. As an example, we have just wrapped up another hugely successful Girls with Hi-Vis®. Throughout June female secondary students from around the country attended events hosted by employers at some of the country’s major infrastructure assets and projects, trying their hand at some of the job skills required.
2025 marks the tenth year that this initiative has been running, and we are extremely proud of how popular this event has become among employers and schools. It’s appreciated for its effectiveness at connecting students both with a whole new potential career path they may not have realised was open to them, and for connecting them to potential employers in their local area. From these events there have been numerous enquiries from students interested in enrolling in Gateway programmes with a view to infrastructure apprenticeships.
Amid ongoing changes for work-based training, it’s a pleasure to continue to promote the opportunities infrastructure offers the next generation, and appreciate their enthusiasm when someone discovers a career pathway they never knew was available.
We are working very closely with our Infrastructure Associations to secure the future for national industry training provision for our industries. Part of this is looking to establish Connexis as a Private Training Establishment (PTE). If you have any thoughts, feedback or support you would like to provide for this, please email us on haveyoursay@connexis.org.nz or feel free to reach out to me directly.
We look forward to what we can achieve together with a refocus on industry training, led and owned by industry.
Ngā mihi
Kaarin Gaukrodger
Executive Director