Supporting young people into work
Mana in Mahi – Strength in Work – was launched by the Prime Minister in August 2018 as part of the Government’s commitment to support young people into sustainable and meaningful work. Mana in Mahi places young people into employment and supports them to stay in work and progress towards completing an apprenticeship or industry training qualification. The programme pays a wage subsidy to participating employers, and funding for pre-employment training and pastoral care, for both employers and participants.
We played a significant role in shaping the policy and design settings for Mana in Mahi. The programme is connected to two of our key strategic aims: kotahitanga – partnering for greater impact, and kia takatū tātou – supporting long-term social and economic development.
Mana in Mahi helps to facilitate greater partnerships between:
- MSD and other agencies working with disadvantaged young people, such as Oranga Tamariki
- MSD and a diverse range of employers and industry groups
- Mana in Mahi and other employment programmes, such as He Poutama Rangatahi [30].
Mana in Mahi will also support long-term social and economic development by:
- providing an industry training pathway, which will support young people to gain the skills and experience needed to become competitive in the labour market, develop a meaningful career, and ultimately achieve sustainable employment
- providing financial incentives to employers to train and develop young people in their respective industries.
We have taken a phased approach to implementing Mana in Mahi – the Phase 1 prototype was designed to support at least 150 people into sustainable employment. Phase One was successful and exceeded its target of 150 places.
By 30 June 2019:
- 247 people had been placed in Mana in Mahi roles
- The retention rate was nearly 70% – 168 were still active in the programme 43 (17%) have exited the programme and returned to a main benefit
- 49% identified as Māori, and 9% as Pacific
- 161 employers had contracts through Mana in Mahi (56% were small employers, with 19 or fewer employees)
- 58 (35%) had started on a formal training pathway
Footnotes
[30] He Poutama Rangitahi is led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
