Analysis: This week’s Budget mirrored an anxious conversation happening across New Zealand, as families attempt to divine whether or not a university education still delivers the return on investment it once did.
Much of this centres on the impact artificial intelligence is likely to have on the workforce in the coming decades. Depending on who you ask, the impact will either be catastrophic for white-collar work or the dawning of a new age of opportunity.
Stuck in the middle, young Kiwis and their parents must now guess which way the wind will blow.”
The National-led coalition has revealed some of its cards in recent weeks, confirming the end of the University fees-free policy and distributing some of those funds to nearly double the number of places in secondary school Trades Academies to 20,000 by 2030.
At the same time, the Government has also spoken about replacing public servants with AI as it looks to slash 8,700 roles from the public sector workforce in the coming years (provided they are re-elected).
