Screen-print illustration of the volcanic sea cliffs of the Poor Knights Islands, Northland — Illustration generated with AI.

Te Taitokerau. 3 districts and cities

Microsoft Copilot training in Northland

Northland businesses pass information among growers, processors, port activity and customer-facing teams. Copilot can help structure that Microsoft 365 trail when each workbook, message and reviewer is identified.^1,2,8

Enquire Read the local brief

60.4% of Northland’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

	A	B	C	D
1	Role type	Northland	NZ	Diff (pts)
2	Desk-based	60.4%	63.6%	−3.2
3	People-facing	10.0%	9.0%	+1.0
4	Hands-on	29.6%	27.4%	+2.2
5	Employed residents	89,526	2,622,534

About 54,100 people in desk-based roles. 2023 Census, counted where people live.

Rows 2 to 4: ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 5, 6 / 4 / 3, 7, 8. Stats NZ 2023 Census, employed residents. Proxy per ILO 2025; not a forecast.

Residents: 194,0002023 Census
Business locations: 24,348Feb 2025, +12.0% since 2020
Employees (jobs here): 66,715at local businesses, Feb 2025
Towns with a page: 191,000+ residents
Council areas: 3districts and cities

What AI means for work in Northland

Northland ranks 7 of 16 regions for the share of desk-based roles. Findings from Stats NZ data, and what each means for Microsoft Copilot training.

Workforce by occupation group, Northland against New Zealand

60.4% of employed residents in Northland work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. Size the licences to the desk-based roles rather than headcount. A pilot with office, scheduling and management staff shows value before you pay for everyone.

Employed residents by occupation group, Northland and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation group	People	Northland	NZ
Managers	17,550	19.6%	18.3%
Professionals	20,598	23.0%	26.8%
Technicians and trades workers	12,039	13.5%	12.5%
Community and personal service workers	8,973	10.0%	9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers	9,423	10.5%	10.8%
Sales workers	6,519	7.3%	7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers	4,911	5.5%	5.9%
Labourers	9,504	10.6%	9.0%

Desk-based = ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 5 and 6 (managers, professionals, clerical and administrative, sales): roles where AI assistance is most applicable. Broad proxy informed by ILO 2025; not measured adoption or an employment forecast. People-facing = major group 4. Hands-on = major groups 3, 7 and 8.

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people; ILO, Generative AI and jobs: a refined global index of occupational exposure (2025).

Power, gas, water, waste: 1.5% of local jobs, 1.7× the national share

Top employer: health and social care, 11,566 jobs (17.3%). Heat cells mark industries over-represented against New Zealand. Plan Copilot use cases by department in the largest employers first.

Share of paid jobs by industry, Northland and New Zealand, February 2025
Industry	Jobs	Share	NZ	×
Health and social care	11,566	17.3%	12.0%	1.4×
Retail	7,085	10.6%	9.3%	1.1×
Education	6,858	10.3%	8.5%	1.2×
Construction	6,070	9.1%	8.2%	1.1×
Manufacturing	5,687	8.5%	9.4%	0.9×
Hospitality	4,725	7.1%	7.2%	1.0×
Farming, forestry, fishing	4,539	6.8%	4.8%	1.4×
Public administration	4,129	6.2%	6.4%	1.0×
Professional services	2,796	4.2%	8.3%	0.5×
Transport and warehousing	2,364	3.5%	4.2%	0.8×

Share of paid employees at business locations in the area, by ANZSIC06 industry division. × is the local share divided by the national share.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

Business locations +12.0% and employees +3.8%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 64,275 (2020) to 66,715 (2025), +3.8% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 21,744 to 24,348. Largest job gain: health and social care (+1,576). Largest loss: farming, forestry, fishing (−908).

Business locations: 21,74424,348 in 2025, from 2020; +12.0% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here): 64,27566,715 in 2025, from 2020; +3.8% NZ +5.0%

Change in employees by industry in Northland, February 2020 to February 2025
Industry	2020	2025	Change
Health and social care	9,990	11,566	+1,576
Construction	5,083	6,070	+987
Education	6,313	6,858	+545
Farming, forestry, fishing	5,447	4,539	−908
Manufacturing	6,220	5,687	−533
Admin and support services	2,199	1,898	−301

Geographic units (business locations) and paid employees, February of each year. Small counts are randomly rounded by Stats NZ, so small changes can be noise.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

Remote readiness: work at home and household internet

Remote sessions fit how people here already work, and live training over Teams reaches staff across sites.

20.7%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

85.7%

Households with internet access

New Zealand 90.5%

Main means of travel to work on census day, and access to the internet in occupied private dwellings.

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people.

Council areas in Northland, compared

Share of employed residents in desk-based roles, by district

Desk-based share by district, Northland
District or city	Share	NZ
Whangarei District	61.3%	63.6%
Kaipara District	59.6%	63.6%
Far North District	59.5%	63.6%

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people.

Towns and cities in Northland

Each has its own page and local brief. Largest first, by residents at the 2023 Census.

Towns in Northland
Town	Residents	Desk-based	Business locations	Since 2020
Whangārei	53,800	58.9%	5,613	+9.7%
Kerikeri	8,070	63.5%	1,314	+9.0%
Kaitāia	5,960	53.3%	564	+2.2%
Dargaville	5,020	51.3%	510	+0.0%
Kaikohe	4,560	55.0%	267	+0.0%
One Tree Point	2,990	64.6%	252	+61.5%
Ruakākā	2,820	57.4%	258	+19.4%
Mangawhai Heads	2,690	67.1%	381	+35.1%
Moerewa	1,850	44.5%	48	+23.1%
Paihia	1,620	65.0%	348	+5.5%
Hikurangi	1,560	52.1%	90	+20.0%
Kawakawa	1,480	50.4%	129	+7.5%
Waipū	1,390	58.9%	165	+27.9%
Ahipara	1,270	60.5%	96	+3.2%
Ōpua	1,250	64.3%	189	+16.7%
Mangawhai	1,210	66.7%	186	+34.8%
Haruru	1,180	60.9%	129	+16.2%
Ngunguru	1,170	66.8%	147	+28.9%
Cable Bay	2,630	59.0%	315	+25.0%
New Zealand	4,993,923	63.6%	654,435	+9.6%

Microsoft Copilot for Northland’s largest industries

The region’s districts call for different examples, but each can practise the same file-to-owner discipline. Approve the SharePoint source and verify any figures in Excel before a Word or Outlook draft moves on.^1,2

Pastoral farming and processing

Summarise a sample Excel supply register in Word, marking discrepancies for the farm or plant owner.²

Marine freight

Turn an authorised Teams coordination note into assigned follow-ups, checking cargo and equipment details with the source file.^8,11

About Northland

Northland comprises three districts with distinct economic profiles, and Northland Regional Council links businesses to dynamic Infometrics profiles and quarterly monitoring. Regional economic material identifies pastoral farming and food processing, horticulture, forestry, marine manufacturing and tourism as important activities. Northland NZ reports that pastoral farming contributed over $580 million to regional GDP in 2024 and that associated meat and dairy processing contributed nearly $110 million. Its horticulture profile identifies kiwifruit as the region’s largest fruit crop and describes an expanding mix of citrus, avocados and emerging subtropical crops.^1,2,3

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Northland

Pastoral farming and meat and dairy processing

Turn plant shift notes into a handover
A supervisor drafts a shift summary in Word from notes already stored in the team’s Microsoft 365 files. Colleagues can check the draft against the source notes before sharing it.²

Why here: AFFCO Moerewa, Silver Fern Farms Dargaville and Fonterra’s Kauri and Maungaturoto facilities make processing a region-specific setting for handover workflows.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files
Review farm and processor planning figures
A finance or operations team asks Copilot in Excel to explain trends in its own production and cost workbook, then checks the calculations before updating a forecast. This can help teams compare assumptions without rewriting the workbook manually.²

Why here: Northland’s pastoral sector contributed over $580 million to regional GDP in 2024, with local meat and dairy processing also contributing nearly $110 million.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel
Build a processor training deck
A training lead turns an approved procedure and internal learning notes into a PowerPoint outline, then checks every instruction with the relevant subject expert. The reviewed deck can give teams a consistent starting point for onboarding.²

Why here: The regional industry includes meat works in Moerewa and Dargaville and Fonterra facilities in Kauri and Maungaturoto, each with distinct local operating context.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in PowerPoint
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

Horticulture and fruit growing

Summarise orchard season correspondence
An orchard office uses Copilot in Outlook to summarise a long thread about a shipment or supplier issue, then drafts a reply for the manager to check. The source messages remain available for verification.³

Why here: Northland’s crop mix includes kiwifruit, Far North citrus, expanding avocado plantings and emerging subtropical fruit.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Outlook
Analyse packhouse quality records
A quality lead asks Copilot in Excel to group trends in an existing inspection workbook and help prepare a chart for an internal review. Staff confirm the underlying records before acting on any pattern.³

Why here: Northland NZ notes that packhouse infrastructure supports the regional kiwifruit industry and that post-harvest investment is growing.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel
Coordinate a grower meeting in Teams
A coordinator uses Copilot in Teams to recap a meeting and list draft actions about a crop or logistics issue. Participants verify the record before it becomes the agreed follow-up.³

Why here: Northland NZ describes collaboration between growers, Māori landowners, research providers and investors in the regional horticulture sector.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Loop

What Northland does

Pastoral farming and meat and dairy processing. Dairy, beef and sheep farming together contributed over $580 million to regional GDP and employed around 3,500 people in 2024. Associated processing includes AFFCO Moerewa, Silver Fern Farms Dargaville, and Fonterra facilities at Kauri and Maungaturoto; Northland NZ reports this processing activity contributed nearly $110 million to regional GDP in 2024.² Named in public sources: AFFCO Moerewa², Silver Fern Farms Dargaville², Fonterra Kauri and Maungaturoto².
Horticulture and fruit growing. Kiwifruit is Northland’s largest fruit crop, while citrus is grown in the Far North and avocado plantings have expanded across the mid-north and western districts. Northland NZ describes packhouse infrastructure, new plantings and value-added food processing as parts of this regional industry.³
Forestry, wood processing and industrial energy. Forestry residues are being examined as a local fuel source for industrial heat. Northland NZ reports that the regional energy transition study covered 18 industrial sites and assessed technology and infrastructure opportunities for businesses and energy suppliers.^9,16 Named in public sources: Northland Wood Council⁹, Northpower¹¹.
Marine manufacturing, port operations and freight. Northland NZ identifies marine manufacturing as a regional growth sector. The Northland Corporate Group describes Northport’s deep-water port at Marsden Point and port-adjacent industrial land, as well as local engineering and infrastructure firms serving marine, energy and manufacturing projects.^8,11 Named in public sources: Northport Group¹¹, Culham Engineering¹¹, McKay Limited¹¹.
Visitor economy and tourism. Northland NZ’s regional tourism organisation works with tourism operators on industry resources, visitor marketing and cruise distribution. Its operator hub identifies the Bay of Islands and Northport in Whangārei District as the region’s two cruise ports.¹⁰

Organisations are named for local context only. No relationship with them is implied.

In the local business news

1 Apr 2025
Northland Proposes Ambitious Regional Deal to Unlock Economic Potential Northland NZ
Northland NZ published a regional deal proposal focused on future energy, marine manufacturing, primary industries and the visitor economy. It offers current local context for business training tied to productivity, workplace development and regional investment.
1 Mar 2024
Report highlights economic potential of local biomass as a source of renewable energy in Northland Northland NZ
A regional energy transition study explored forestry residues as fuel for manufacturing heat and outlined technology and infrastructure implications for industrial firms and suppliers.
9 Jul 2024
Outage outrage: Northland businesses seeking compensation 1News
1News reported business disruption after a Northland power outage, including lost production at a timber manufacturer in Waipū. The incident makes continuity planning and operational communications locally relevant.

A Northland workplace exercise can trace one permitted record through the tools the team already uses and name its reviewer.^1,2,8

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops in Northland

There is no public Copilot workshop in Northland on the calendar yet. Register interest below and we will tell you when one is scheduled. Organisations can book private training for their own staff at any time.

Tell me when there is a workshop in Northland

We will email you when a public workshop is scheduled nearby. No other mailing.

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