Hard-Hitting Facts in 2024 and Predicting the Workplace of 2025 in New Zealand

Notably: This is not a sponsored study; hence, I am allowed to speak honestly about the prevailing trends and sentiments in the ICT and tech-enabled professional workspace, and not worry about political correctness. These insights reflect macro trends observed across sectors that rely heavily on Digital, Tech, and Data for customer acquisition, marketing, servicing, and sales (e.g., banking, insurance, and public sector). This note also factors in how local political, economic, global geopolitical landscape will influence the NZ workplaces. This summary is created based on hundreds of interactions with various people from various organisations, functions and job roles.

Key Observations and Trends

1. Cautious Optimism Amid Restructurings

All workplaces and sectors, including public and private entities, as well as banking, are bracing for cautious optimism. Most have already undergone at least one round of restructuring and remain uncertain about how the upcoming year will unfold. This uncertainty is often kept under wraps but is palpable in workplace dynamics. Workplaces are various re-orgs are hiring mid to senior level talent again but they are largely trying to recruit through their internal relationships and networks and recommendations (even if roles are posted to outside people).

2. Cost-Cutting Pressures

The pressure to cut costs has led to approximately 30% workforce reductions across various organizations. These cuts have prompted leaders to reconsider their operating models. While many have recently gone through transformations, the focus has shifted to adopting lean, realistic models. Coordination roles have largely been eliminated (Project managers, Scrum masters, project coordinators), while contributor roles (UX designer, Business analyst, Developers, Testing, Data analyst, Infra and DevOps SMEs  have been retained, albeit with some trimming. With advent of local LLMs that has acquired the domain knowledge and workplace practices knowledge (i.e. writing user stories, test cases), could also result in trimming of “business analysis role”.

3. Shift from Business Agility to Product Management

Previously established capabilities and roles centred on business agility have been shelved. Instead, organizations are pivoting toward product management as the primary focus area. This shift blends agile and scaled scrum practices with a growing emphasis on product ownership and management roles, which inherently integrate agility practices. This also revealed a true realisation that business agility wave (from 2016 to 2021) only partially achieved the outcomes and was not seen as essential capability by stakeholders, Business Leaders and Board members.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation

AI is at the doorstep, but its adoption remains in the early stages, particularly in predictive analytics and automation. Organizations are advancing in automation and early data analytics while grappling with what AI and machine learning (ML) might mean for them. True AI maturity will require significant data transformation. However, AI applications for content and image generation have already become commonplace.

5. Hybrid Workplaces as the Norm

Hybrid work has become the accepted equilibrium, with 2-3 in-person collaboration days per week. Public sector employers are pushing harder for in-office presence than their private-sector counterparts. While this may have reduced productivity, employers accept it to avoid being seen as unfavourable or unsupportive or as an acceptable trade-off for not losing the experienced young workforce to Australia.

6. Rise of Data Transformation Initiatives

Major government and banking organizations are actively pursuing data transformation programs. Data analysis and AI-related initiatives are becoming mainstream, but success will demand a workforce that is adaptable, consultant-minded, and capable of responding to changing priorities with minimal intervention. Data transformations are coming as a next wave to Digital transformations so, there are learnings from previous chapter but there data contextual skills, behaviour and mindset is yet to be discovered and adopted.

7. Battling Skills Shortages

Technical skills remain highly valuable, but New Zealand’s labor supply consistently falls short of demand. The skills shortage is further amplified by emerging jobs in sustainability and other specialized fields. While skilled migration offers some relief, the gap persists as the global workforce resumes travel. Academic institutions have stepped in largely to fill this skills gap but these courses are yet to be proven as practical and portable for real workplace interactions.

8. Outsourcing and Offshoring on the Rise

Outsourcing and offshoring are increasingly accepted in various forms (direct vendor partnerships, cost centers, or service support). While these strategies save costs, they introduce challenges, including cultural shifts, alignment with Asian time zones, and variability in delivery quality and consistency. However, current saves will always justify the deferred costs.

9. Pressure on People-Focused Culture

Given the simultaneous interplay of cost-cutting, productivity pressures, and tight timelines, people-focused cultures will face challenges. While local workforces may strive to uphold human-centric values, top-down delivery pressures and employability concerns will often prioritize productivity over culture.

Predictions and Takeaways

For Enterprises

• Next Gen Leadership – There will be demand for a balance leader who are focussed on outcomes while retaining the culture in a decisive way. The room for populist democratic leadership that survives on the lobbies and alliances, will be shrinking due to cost pressure and shorter horizon visibility/confidence (combined with political uncertainty and global geopolitical influence). and hence, clear & decisive leaders will gain popularity due to their razor-sharp focus on what’s valuable to customers. This means multi-year fat transformations program will see greater pressure and scrutiny on showing value early.
• Increased Adoption of AI and Data Analytics: Prioritize maturing data capabilities to integrate AI effectively, ensuring foundational transformations precede advanced applications. In this arena, immediate value organisation might capture is through use of already matured LLM in business analysis competency.
• Refined Hybrid Work Models: Develop hybrid policies that balance flexibility with productivity while addressing challenges unique to public and private sectors.
• Product Management Leadership: Invest in product management functions, blending agile principles with strategic execution. While new behaviours adopted as part of agile transformations have been largely assimilated by the workforce and AI LLMs, next phase of practices will focus on giving value to customer or clients in fastest way and hence, transformations will have to show faster ROI in order to stay competitive (Lean and Mean). This will also be an space of innovation due to increase pressure on valuable delivery.
• Cost Efficiency with Outsourcing: Establish robust governance for offshoring strategies to mitigate risks tied to culture and quality variability. Timezone with US and APAC based workforce will demand increased work hours and commitment from local workforce.
• Addressing Skills Shortages: Partner with local training institutions and explore skilled migration policies to bridge capability gaps. There will be increased pressure on organisation Development leader to impart faster mindset shift, byte sized modular learning and not sure remain dependent on off-the-shelf (packaged Training) or on-demand learnings (i.e. Udemy, Linkedin) to serve the culture, product and services context of their organisation.
• Balancing Culture and Productivity: Foster leadership that can deliver results without compromising the human-centric values of the workplace will be a key focus if organisation wants to retain original kiwi culture. This is where leadership ingenuity will be key in balancing meeting the goal/timelines vs retaining the culture.
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For Employees

• Adaptability as a Core Skill: Cultivate a consultant mindset to thrive in dynamic environments with shifting priorities.
• Upskill for AI and Data Transformation: Focus on acquiring skills in data analytics, automation, and foundational AI to stay ahead.
• Hybrid Work Proficiency: Master the art of remote collaboration while optimizing in-person interactions.
• Resilience in Uncertain Times: Build emotional intelligence and resilience to navigate restructures and changing work dynamics.
• Cross-Cultural Competency: Enhance skills to collaborate effectively with offshore teams, particularly in multi-time-zone settings.
• Future-Proofing Careers: Explore opportunities in emerging fields like sustainability and advanced product management.
• Understanding Wage Trends: Recognize that wages for generic skills and beginner to advanced proficiency levels in key capabilities are likely to stagnate or decline. However, individuals with advanced skills in data, people change, product management, and automation will continue to command premium wages.
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In summary, all above point towards need of acquiring a new mindset for the workforce, where long term job security will take back seat and skills reliance will shape the growth trajectory. 

Conclusion

The evolving landscape of New Zealand's workplace in 2024 and beyond reveals a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation, optimizing workforce models, and addressing cultural challenges. While enterprises navigate cost-cutting measures and prioritize areas like AI, data transformation, and product management, employees must focus on adaptability, continuous learning, and emotional resilience. The hybrid work model, along with an increasing reliance on outsourcing and offshoring, further emphasizes the need for cross-cultural competency and robust governance structures.

Both organizations and individuals have a shared responsibility to shape a workplace that not only meets productivity goals but also preserves human-centric values. By staying informed and proactively adapting to these trends, New Zealand's workforce can not only weather the uncertainties of 2024 but also thrive in the years ahead.