Screen-print illustration of the long, green Māhia Peninsula extending into the Pacific, Hawke's Bay — Illustration generated with AI.

Te Matau-a-Māui. 4 districts and cities

Microsoft Copilot training in Hawke's Bay

Hawke’s Bay export work passes through orchards, processing sites, wineries and Napier Port. Microsoft 365 Copilot can help prepare handovers when the file, owner and verification step remain visible.^1,2,3,4

Enquire Read the local brief

58.7% of Hawke's Bay’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

	A	B	C	D
1	Role type	Hawke's Bay	NZ	Diff (pts)
2	Desk-based	58.7%	63.6%	−4.9
3	People-facing	9.4%	9.0%	+0.4
4	Hands-on	31.9%	27.4%	+4.5
5	Employed residents	88,431	2,622,534

About 51,900 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: 175,0002023 Census
Business locations: 21,696Feb 2025, +10.2% since 2020
Employees (jobs here): 87,110at local businesses, Feb 2025
Towns with a page: 81,000+ residents
Council areas: 4districts and cities

What AI means for work in Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay ranks 11 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, Hawke's Bay against New Zealand

58.7% of employed residents in Hawke's Bay work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. The difference is mostly labourers: 12.6% of employed residents here, against 9.0% nationally. 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, Hawke's Bay and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation group	People	Hawke's Bay	NZ
Managers	15,606	17.7%	18.3%
Professionals	20,790	23.5%	26.8%
Technicians and trades workers	11,274	12.8%	12.5%
Community and personal service workers	8,313	9.4%	9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers	9,135	10.3%	10.8%
Sales workers	6,387	7.2%	7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers	5,757	6.5%	5.9%
Labourers	11,166	12.6%	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).

Farming, forestry, fishing: 13.2% of local jobs, 2.7× the national share

Top employer: farming, forestry, fishing, 11,512 jobs (13.2%). 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, Hawke's Bay and New Zealand, February 2025
Industry	Jobs	Share	NZ	×
Farming, forestry, fishing	11,512	13.2%	4.8%	2.7×
Manufacturing	11,101	12.7%	9.4%	1.4×
Health and social care	10,443	12.0%	12.0%	1.0×
Retail	7,460	8.5%	9.3%	0.9×
Education	6,978	8.0%	8.5%	0.9×
Construction	6,896	7.9%	8.2%	1.0×
Admin and support services	5,751	6.6%	4.6%	1.4×
Hospitality	5,307	6.1%	7.2%	0.8×
Public administration	4,038	4.6%	6.4%	0.7×
Professional services	3,923	4.5%	8.3%	0.5×

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 +10.2% and employees +5.3%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 82,725 (2020) to 87,110 (2025), +5.3% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 19,686 to 21,696. Largest job gain: health and social care (+1,445). Largest loss: farming, forestry, fishing (−1,891).

Business locations: 19,68621,696 in 2025, from 2020; +10.2% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here): 82,72587,110 in 2025, from 2020; +5.3% NZ +5.0%

Change in employees by industry in Hawke's Bay, February 2020 to February 2025
Industry	2020	2025	Change
Health and social care	8,998	10,443	+1,445
Wholesale	2,626	3,890	+1,264
Construction	5,783	6,896	+1,113
Farming, forestry, fishing	13,403	11,512	−1,891
Transport and warehousing	3,155	3,039	−116
Media and telecoms	371	333	−38

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.

15.8%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

89.3%

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 Hawke's Bay, compared

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

Desk-based share by district, Hawke's Bay
District or city	Share	NZ
Napier City	60.0%	63.6%
Hastings District	58.9%	63.6%
Central Hawke's Bay District	56.8%	63.6%
Wairoa District	49.2%	63.6%

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

Also partly in Hawke's Bay: Taupo District, Rangitikei District.

Towns and cities in Hawke's Bay

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

Towns in Hawke's Bay
Town	Residents	Desk-based	Business locations	Since 2020
Napier	64,700	60.1%	6,915	+10.3%
Hastings	47,700	52.7%	4,143	+8.7%
Havelock North	15,000	72.0%	2,271	+22.3%
Waipukurau	4,700	50.7%	516	+3.6%
Wairoa	4,710	44.8%	312	+5.1%
Waipāwa	2,330	55.4%	189	−3.1%
Clive	1,990	57.5%	180	+22.4%
Haumoana	1,150	62.6%	99	+17.9%
New Zealand	4,993,923	63.6%	654,435	+9.6%

Microsoft Copilot for Hawke's Bay’s largest industries

A sample Excel register can support a Word shift note or Outlook message, but shipment facts must be checked against the source. Decide which SharePoint files are approved before the exercise.^2,3

Horticulture and fruit processing

For a Hawke’s Bay fruit packhouse, a sample Excel lot register could feed a Word export note after staff reconcile the quantities.^2,6

Port logistics

Turn an approved Teams dispatch discussion into an Outlook update after the coordinator checks cargo and timing.³

About Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay is an export-facing economy in which agriculture and manufacturing are identified as leading industries, with health care and social assistance also making a strong contribution. An Infometrics-based regional study estimated 6,868 filled jobs in horticulture and related processing in 2023, equal to 7.6% of the region's employment. Napier Port describes itself as a gateway connecting Hawke's Bay and the lower North Island to international markets, while the regional wine association lists producers ranging from family wineries to large national brands. Hawke's Bay Regional Council's 2024-25 annual report says the regional economic development agency was formed in 2023 and is funded by the regional council and the four territorial authorities.^1,2,3,4,5

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Hawke's Bay

Horticulture and fruit processing

Reconcile a Heretaunga apple grade sheet
A packhouse analyst can use Copilot in Excel to summarise a de-identified season's grade, packout and dispatch workbook, then ask it to flag rows that need a human check. The analyst can turn the approved findings into a short Word briefing for orchard and sales teams.^2,6

Why here: The regional economic study identifies apple and pear growing and fruit and vegetable processing among the region's largest horticulture employment sectors; T&G profiles Apatu Farms as a grower on the Heretaunga Plains.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
Draft a safe harvest handover in Teams
A seasonal supervisor can use Copilot in Teams to recap an approved handover discussion and list open actions for the next shift. The group can check the draft against its own orchard and packhouse procedures before it is shared.⁶

Why here: T&G's Hawke's Bay grower profile describes Apatu Farms' apple operation on the Heretaunga Plains and its use of growing systems, giving local seasonal teams a relevant example for handover practice.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Loop
Prepare an orchard-to-port season update
A regional exporter can use Copilot in PowerPoint to turn approved figures and notes into a concise update for growers, packers and freight partners. Copilot in Outlook can help tailor the accompanying messages while staff verify shipment details and commitments.^2,3

Why here: The study describes Hawke's Bay food production as an ecosystem of growers, processors and solution providers, and Napier Port describes itself as a route from the region to global markets.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in PowerPoint
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Outlook

Meat and meat processing

Create a Takapau shift action list
A production coordinator can use Copilot in Teams to summarise an approved handover and sort open actions by responsible team. Copilot in Word can turn the checked notes into a consistent shift brief for the next crew.^2,7

Why here: Silver Fern Farms identifies its Takapau meat-processing site as a large seasonal employer in Central Hawke's Bay, and the regional report estimates 5,898 jobs in meat and meat processing.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
Check a de-identified production trend in Excel
A plant analyst can use Copilot in Excel to describe a scrubbed weekly yield or downtime workbook and suggest questions for the operations review. The analyst validates every calculation against the source system before sharing the trend with managers.^2,7

Why here: The regional study reports a concentrated meat and meat-processing sector, while the Takapau site is described by its operator as employing more than 900 people at seasonal peak.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel
Keep customer follow-up grounded in approved files
A sales or compliance employee can use Copilot in Outlook and Microsoft Graph grounding to draft a response from approved company files and recent correspondence. A qualified staff member checks product, timing and certification details before sending it to a customer.²

Why here: Hawke's Bay's meat sector is export-facing: the regional study estimates more than a third of the region's exports came from meat and meat processing in 2023.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot in Outlook
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

What Hawke's Bay does

Horticulture and fruit processing. The regional economic study groups fruit growing, agricultural support and related processing together. It estimates 6,868 filled jobs in this group in 2023 and identifies apple and pear growing, agricultural support services, and fruit and vegetable processing among its largest employment sectors.^2,6 Named in public sources: Apatu Farms⁶.
Meat and meat processing. The 2023 regional profile combines livestock farming and meat processing and estimates 5,898 filled jobs, or 6.5% of regional employment. Silver Fern Farms identifies its Takapau processing site as employing more than 900 people at the height of the season.^2,7 Named in public sources: Silver Fern Farms Takapau⁷.
Viticulture and wine production. Hawke's Bay Wine describes a regional network of about 100 wineries and notes the region's recognition as a Great Wine Capital. The regional economic study identifies wine and other alcoholic beverage manufacturing as a high-output sector within horticulture and related processing.^2,4,8 Named in public sources: Mission Estate⁴, Te Mata Estate⁴.
Freight and port logistics. Napier Port describes its role as linking Hawke's Bay and the lower North Island with global markets. The regional economic study identifies port access and transport resilience as important conditions for primary producers and exporters.^2,3 Named in public sources: Napier Port³.
Tourism and visitor services. Hawke's Bay Tourism's business-events page describes a regional network of meeting and conference venues, event suppliers and professional support services. Wine, food and visitor experiences are also prominent in the region's official wine and tourism material.^8,17 Named in public sources: Hawke's Bay Tourism¹⁷.

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

Training venues in and near Hawke's Bay

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

Kahukura Hawke's Bay Museum Conference & Meeting Rooms¹⁹

30 people, largest layout

The venue page lists 16 boardroom and 30 classroom capacity.
- Wi-Fi
- AV equipment
- whiteboard
- presentation screens
- catering facilities
1 Tennyson Street, Napier
Coastguard Hawke's Bay Operations & Education Centre, upstairs training room²⁰

50 people, largest layout

Seats 30 in classroom layout or up to 50 in theatre layout.
- full kitchen
704 Meeanee Quay, Napier 4110
The Crown Hotel Northumberland Conference Room²¹

40 people, largest layout

The hotel says the room suits groups up to 40 delegates and supports boardroom and U-shape layouts.
- audio-visual equipment
- complimentary Wi-Fi
- high-speed broadband
- catering
Corner Bridge Street and Hardinge Road, Ahuriri, Napier
EIT Hawke's Bay Campus facility hire¹⁶

Campus

EIT lists lecture theatres, presentation rooms, classrooms and meeting or conference rooms; capacities are not stated on this page.

501 Gloucester Street, Taradale, Napier 4112
Napier Conferences & Events¹⁸

Conference venue

The venue lists nine multi-use spaces; the Natusch Ballroom is shown with theatre seating for 350.

Napier city centre

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

In the local business news

18 Aug 2026
Government backs Hawke's Bay businesses with targeted recovery support The Beehive
The Government announced funding for an additional Growth Advisor at the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce through June 2027. The role is intended to help local owners with planning and growth as some firms continue to manage Cyclone Gabrielle's effects.
27 Aug 2025
$24.62m RIF funding for East Coast and Hawke's Bay The Beehive
The release describes regional funding for horticulture expansion, water storage and flood resilience. It names Wairoa projects and Quality Roading Services, linking the investment to primary production and recovery infrastructure.
5 Jun 2025
EIT launches next phase of RSE training programme Eastern Institute of Technology
EIT reported that its refreshed NOA Village of Learning programme had begun courses in Hawke's Bay for Recognised Seasonal Employer workers. The curriculum includes digital capability, small-business and vocational learning, making it a local workforce-skills hook.

A workplace session can map one permitted export record through Excel, Word and Outlook, including its final reviewer.^2,3

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops in Hawke's Bay

There is no public Copilot workshop in Hawke's Bay 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 Hawke's Bay

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

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