Regional skill ecosystems to assist young people making education employment linkages in transition from school to work

A feature of regional development in New Zealand over the last two decades has been ongoing skill shortages reported by employers at the same time as unemployment has been relatively high. This paper addresses that issue with findings from a five-year trans-disciplinary research programme on education employment linkages for young people. The author’s contribution to that programme focused on employer-led channels at the regional level, investigating how employment opportunities and requirements in a region are communicated to young people as they make education choices. This paper pays particular attention to the role of career offices in post-school education institution, drawing on the skill ecosystem metaphor introduced initially by David Finegold in 1999 and developed more recently by the NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training in Australia in collaboration with a research team led by John Buchanan at the University of Sydney.