More than one in four people in the rail workforce is likely to retire within the next 10 years, creating an urgent need for succession planning and recruitment strategies, according to a new report.
The report, Building New Zealand Rail Skills for the Future, was released by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA), together with workforce development council Hanga-Aro-Rau in collaboration with sector stakeholders.
Prepared by business management consultants PwC, the report presents a comprehensive analysis of the workforce challenges facing rail in New Zealand and makes a series of recommendations under key priority areas.
It states that, like Australia, the New Zealand rail industry is facing significant workforce challenges, with skill shortages, a “retirement cliff”, and persistent barriers to attracting new talent and retaining staff.
Strategic workforce planning, investment in skills development and career progression, and enhanced sector collaboration will be critical to ensuring New Zealand has a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers to deliver infrastructure projects and meet future demand for services.
The report found specialist skills, including signalling engineering, overhead traction and digital rail systems, remain in high demand but are difficult to source locally.
New Zealand also lacks dedicated polytechnic and university qualifications for rail engineering and operations. While vocational training exists, sector engagement with tertiary education providers remains inconsistent, limiting whole-of-workforce development opportunities.
Barries to talent attraction and retention remain a challenge for the industry as the sector struggles with low awareness among young professionals, outdated perceptions of rail careers, and limited pathways for career progression.
The report states flexible working arrangements and diversity initiatives are needed to improve workforce retention and inclusion.
New skills in data analytics, cybersecurity, and digital engineering will also be required as the sector moves towards digital signalling, automation, and predictive maintenance.
Without proactive training initiatives, the existing workforce may struggle to build the expertise needed for future rail operations.
The report also states a long-term, bipartisan rail investment strategy is essential to provide stability and support workforce planning. This is due to the cyclical and uncertain nature of infrastructure funding which has led to workforce instability, with inconsistent demand for skills.
Actionable recommendations in three key areas are set out to collectively develop a sector-wide workforce strategy alongside a nationally coordinated bipartisan infrastructure plan.
These include the need to establish long-term foundations for workforce sustainability through infrastructure planning, procurement, and regulatory reform, positioning rail as a modern, inclusive, and attractive career sector through branding, visibility, and better workforce insights; and building a future-ready rail workforce through planning, education partnerships, international collaboration, and mobility pathways.
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