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Screen-print illustration of the Wellington Harbour and surrounding hills
Illustration generated with AI.

Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui. 8 districts and cities

Microsoft Copilot training in Wellington region

Wellington’s government and professional teams work with documents, meetings and approvals; Kāpiti and Wairarapa add different production records. Copilot can help follow a Microsoft 365 handover from its source file to the person who signs it off.1,3

Enquire Read the local brief

71.1% of Wellington’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

Role typeWellingtonNZDiff (pts)
Desk-based 71.1% 63.6% +7.4
People-facing 8.7% 9.0% −0.3
Hands-on 20.2% 27.4% −7.1
Employed residents294,1442,622,534

About 209,000 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
521,0002023 Census
Business locations
62,418Feb 2025, +4.5% since 2020
Employees (jobs here)
281,690at local businesses, Feb 2025
Towns with a page
141,000+ residents
Council areas
8districts and cities

What AI means for work in Wellington

Wellington ranks 1 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, Wellington against New Zealand

71.1% of employed residents in Wellington work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. Professionals stand out: 35.3% of employed residents here, against 26.8% nationally. Desk-based roles live in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel, which is where Copilot works. A broad rollout has plenty of people to benefit: plan the pilot group and the champions first.

Employed residents by occupation group, Wellington and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation groupChartPeopleWellingtonNZ
Managers 50,985 17.3% 18.3%
Professionals 103,782 35.3% 26.8%
Technicians and trades workers 30,717 10.4% 12.5%
Community and personal service workers 25,581 8.7% 9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers 33,816 11.5% 10.8%
Sales workers 20,454 7.0% 7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers 10,908 3.7% 5.9%
Labourers 17,907 6.1% 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).

Public administration: 17.8% of local jobs, 2.8× the national share

Top employer: public administration, 50,020 jobs (17.8%). 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, Wellington and New Zealand, February 2025
IndustryChartJobsShareNZ×
Public administration 50,020 17.8% 6.4% 2.8×
Health and social care 33,440 11.9% 12.0% 1.0×
Professional services 31,108 11.0% 8.3% 1.3×
Education 26,163 9.3% 8.5% 1.1×
Retail 21,597 7.7% 9.3% 0.8×
Hospitality 19,167 6.8% 7.2% 0.9×
Construction 18,664 6.6% 8.2% 0.8×
Manufacturing 12,317 4.4% 9.4% 0.5×
Finance and insurance 11,516 4.1% 2.8% 1.5×
Other services 10,902 3.9% 3.5% 1.1×

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 +4.5% and employees +4.0%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 270,890 (2020) to 281,690 (2025), +4.0% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 59,715 to 62,418. Largest job gain: public administration (+9,724). Largest loss: admin and support services (−2,436).

Business locations
59,71562,418 in 2025, from 2020
+4.5% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here)
270,890281,690 in 2025, from 2020
+4.0% NZ +5.0%
Change in employees by industry in Wellington, February 2020 to February 2025
IndustryChart20202025Change
Public administration 40,29650,020+9,724
Health and social care 29,59033,440+3,850
Education 24,87726,163+1,286
Admin and support services 13,27710,841−2,436
Professional services 32,86431,108−1,756
Manufacturing 13,15412,317−837

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

Both on-site and remote sessions work. Most teams start with a half-day on-site.

19.0%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

92.9%

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 Wellington, compared

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

Desk-based share by district, Wellington
District or cityChartShareNZ
Wellington City 77.0% 63.6%
South Wairarapa District 67.8% 63.6%
Kapiti Coast District 67.8% 63.6%
Lower Hutt City 67.8% 63.6%
Upper Hutt City 67.1% 63.6%
Porirua City 66.7% 63.6%
Carterton District 63.5% 63.6%
Masterton District 58.8% 63.6%

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.

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

Also partly in Wellington: Tararua District.

Towns and cities in Wellington

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

Towns in Wellington
TownResidentsDesk-based Chart Business locationsSince 2020
Wellington 201,700 77.0% 29,070 −0.1%
Lower Hutt 106,500 67.7% 11,361 +5.4%
Porirua 58,100 66.4% 4,833 +11.5%
Upper Hutt 42,900 66.9% 3,237 +10.2%
Paraparaumu 28,900 67.6% 3,150 +8.9%
Masterton 21,600 56.0% 2,124 +10.6%
Waikanae 13,000 69.5% 1,269 +24.8%
Carterton 5,860 60.0% 474 +19.7%
Ōtaki 5,020 62.8% 540 +22.4%
Featherston 2,790 62.6% 204 +11.5%
Greytown 2,770 70.0% 408 +20.4%
Ōtaki Beach 2,150 63.3% 141 +17.5%
Martinborough 1,880 69.2% 375 −3.1%
Paekākāriki 1,670 72.1% 159 −1.9%
New Zealand4,993,92363.6%654,435+9.6%

Microsoft Copilot for Wellington’s largest industries

A draft in Word or Outlook should carry a clear owner and a link to the approved SharePoint material behind it. That is especially useful when a regional team hands work between offices and districts.1

Public administration

Use a permitted Teams meeting recap to draft a Word action register, then have each policy owner confirm the wording and deadline.1,6

Food and fibre

Summarise a sample Excel supply worksheet for an Outlook update, checking volumes and recipients against the workbook.3

About Wellington

Wellington combines a capital-centred public and professional services economy with distinct food and fibre areas in Kāpiti and Wairarapa. Infometrics estimates for 2024 put public administration and safety at 14.3% of regional employment, professional, scientific and technical services at 13.7%, and health care and social assistance at 10.3%; high-value services contributed 43% of regional GDP. Screen, creative and digital activity, science and engineering, tourism, and food and fibre are the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan’s focus sectors. Food and fibre contributed $2 billion to regional GDP and employed 13,347 people in 2023, with Kāpiti and Wairarapa among the sub-regions responsible for most regional production. Te Matarau a Māui provides Māori-led economic development support across Te Ūpoko o Te Ika.1,2,3,4

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Wellington

Government and public administration

  • Turn committee packs into a reviewable decision brief

    A policy analyst can use Word to make a first draft from approved committee papers and agency files. They then check each claim and link against the originals before a manager signs it off.1

    Why here: Public administration and safety made up 14.3% of Wellington Region employment in 2024, the largest industry share in the regional profile.

    • Copilot in Word
    • Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

  • Keep cross-council actions visible after a regional meeting

    A project coordinator can use Teams and Outlook to turn an approved meeting thread into an action list and a draft follow-up. Named owners review the list before it is sent to participating organisations.6

    Why here: Greater Wellington says the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee has regional economic-development oversight, so coordination among regional partners is a local operating need.

    • Copilot in Teams
    • Copilot in Outlook

  • Check a service-delivery spreadsheet before a briefing

    A performance analyst can ask Copilot in Excel to surface trends and missing values in an approved, de-identified service dataset. The analyst verifies the calculations and caveats before the results enter a briefing.1,11

    Why here: The regional economy has a large public-administration workforce, while its broad service area spans eight territorial authorities and regional institutions.

    • Copilot in Excel

Screen, creative and digital production

  • Draft a production handover from approved project notes

    A production coordinator can use Word and Outlook to assemble a first-draft handover from approved schedules, contacts and notes. Department leads review the details before the pack moves to the next production stage.17

    Why here: Screen Wellington lists production, post-production and studio businesses in the region, including Park Road Post Production and Stone Street Studios.

    • Copilot in Word
    • Copilot in Outlook

  • Reconcile a non-sensitive shoot schedule in Excel

    A production office can ask Copilot in Excel to flag conflicting dates, missing fields and changes between approved schedule versions. The coordinator compares the output with the production system before confirming any crew or equipment booking.17

    Why here: Wellington’s screen directory includes film facilities and post-production providers, where teams coordinate many linked production tasks and handovers.

    • Copilot in Excel

  • Answer internal workflow questions from studio files

    A studio operations lead can prototype a Copilot Studio agent that answers routine questions from approved internal workflow documents. Team members can follow the cited procedure and escalate production-specific decisions to a person.17

    Why here: The Screen Wellington directory identifies several Wellington facilities, including Wētā Workshop, Wētā FX and Stone Street Studios, each with its own production workflows.

    • Copilot Studio agents
    • Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

What Wellington does

  • Government and public administration. Wellington’s role as the seat of government supports central public administration and government-facing professional services. Public administration and safety was the region’s largest employing industry in 2024, at 14.3% of employment.1,6 Named in public sources: Greater Wellington Regional Council6.
  • Professional, scientific and technical services. Professional, scientific and technical services were the region’s second-largest employing industry in 2024 at 13.7%. The region’s high-value services sector includes knowledge-intensive professional, scientific, technical, financial and insurance services.1
  • Screen, creative and digital production. The regional plan identifies screen, creative and digital activity as a growth sector. Wellington has production, visual-effects, post-production and studio businesses, including Wētā Workshop, Wētā FX, Park Road Post Production and Stone Street Studios.2,16,17 Named in public sources: Wētā Workshop17, Wētā FX17, Park Road Post Production17, Stone Street Studios17.
  • Food and fibre production and processing. Food and fibre contributed $2 billion to regional GDP and employed 13,347 people in 2023. Kāpiti has horticulture, livestock, poultry and high-value food manufacturing; Wairarapa has meat, livestock, viticulture, dairy, forestry and related processing.3
  • Visitor economy. The 2024/25 WellingtonNZ annual report says the visitor economy accounts for more than 53,000 jobs across nearly 7,500 regional businesses. Events and conferences are part of this activity, alongside domestic and international visitation.9,15 Named in public sources: WellingtonNZ15.
  • Transport, freight and maritime logistics. CentrePort connects regional importers and exporters to international markets by road and rail. Its wider service footprint includes a log hub at Waingawa in Wairarapa as well as the Wellington port.18 Named in public sources: CentrePort18.

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

Training venues in and near Wellington

Most training happens at your own workplace. For a public workshop day or an off-site session, these places hire out rooms.

  • Shed 6, Room 221

    145 people, largest layout

    Flat-floor room with movable soundproof walls; theatre and classroom layouts are listed.

    • theatre seating layout
    • classroom seating layout
    • movable soundproof walls

  • Te Papa Venues20

    180 people, largest layout

    Day-delegate package is offered for meetings, workshops and conferences, subject to availability.

    • Wi-Fi
    • whiteboard
    • flip chart
    • lectern
    • fixed data projector and screen in the standard meeting room

    55 Cable Street, Wellington

  • The Woolshed, Belmont Regional Park22

    30 people, largest layout

    Greater Wellington lists seating for 30 and a meeting space available for hire.

    • whiteboard and markers
    • kitchenette
    • heater
    • limited Wi-Fi

From the venues’ own public listings. No booking or relationship is implied.

In the local business news

A workplace exercise can map one Wellington-region process through SharePoint, Teams and Word, including who checks each stage.1,3

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops in Wellington

There is no public Copilot workshop in Wellington 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.

Register interest in a public workshop in Wellington

Tell me when there is a workshop in Wellington

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Other regions

Wellington Panorama View
Wellington Panorama View by Ulrich Lange, Bochum, Germany, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Microsoft Copilot training in Wellington: questions

What should a policy team sort out first?

Confirm which SharePoint papers are current and who is authorised to review the resulting draft.1,6

Could a Wairarapa producer use Excel?

Yes; a safe sample supply register can support a checked message to the next person in the chain.3

Who verifies a meeting summary?

The action owner should check responsibilities and dates in the original discussion before circulation.1

Train your team in Wellington

  1. ScopeHeadcount, sites, Microsoft 365 plan and licences, and the teams you want to start with.
  2. PlanWe propose a course, a pilot group and a format, and agree the files and meetings to use.
  3. TrainOn-site or over Teams, in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, with your own work.
  • In person
  • Remote
  • Half-day workshop
  • Full-day workshop
  • Team rollout

Independent training by TheColab. Not affiliated with Microsoft.

Enquire

Tell us about your team in Wellington. We reply by email with a suggested course and format.

We use these details only to reply to you, and store them securely with TheColab. Privacy

Sources

Local research checked 29 September 2026. Population and business figures come from Stats NZ.