Screen-print illustration of Otago Peninsula and Taiaroa Head — Illustration generated with AI.

Ōtākou. 5 districts and cities

Microsoft Copilot training in Otago

Otago work moves between rural producers, Dunedin offices and visitor businesses in other districts. Copilot can support a Microsoft 365 handover when the source workbook and reviewing owner travel with the draft.^1,2,12

Enquire Read the local brief

59.9% of Otago’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

	A	B	C	D
1	Role type	Otago	NZ	Diff (pts)
2	Desk-based	59.9%	63.6%	−3.7
3	People-facing	10.2%	9.0%	+1.2
4	Hands-on	29.9%	27.4%	+2.5
5	Employed residents	132,600	2,622,534

About 79,400 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: 241,0002023 Census
Business locations: 34,614Feb 2025, +12.2% since 2020
Employees (jobs here): 126,535at local businesses, Feb 2025
Towns with a page: 151,000+ residents
Council areas: 5districts and cities

What AI means for work in Otago

Otago ranks 8 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, Otago against New Zealand

59.9% of employed residents in Otago 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, Otago and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation group	People	Otago	NZ
Managers	24,090	18.2%	18.3%
Professionals	31,455	23.7%	26.8%
Technicians and trades workers	18,579	14.0%	12.5%
Community and personal service workers	13,518	10.2%	9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers	13,038	9.8%	10.8%
Sales workers	10,851	8.2%	7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers	7,098	5.4%	5.9%
Labourers	13,971	10.5%	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).

Mining: 0.8% of local jobs, 2.9× the national share

Top employer: health and social care, 14,550 jobs (11.5%). 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, Otago and New Zealand, February 2025
Industry	Jobs	Share	NZ	×
Health and social care	14,550	11.5%	12.0%	1.0×
Hospitality	14,516	11.5%	7.2%	1.6×
Retail	13,214	10.4%	9.3%	1.1×
Construction	12,224	9.7%	8.2%	1.2×
Education	11,367	9.0%	8.5%	1.1×
Farming, forestry, fishing	10,027	7.9%	4.8%	1.6×
Manufacturing	9,495	7.5%	9.4%	0.8×
Professional services	6,750	5.3%	8.3%	0.7×
Admin and support services	5,608	4.4%	4.6%	1.0×
Public administration	5,598	4.4%	6.4%	0.7×

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 +12.2% and employees +4.3%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 121,280 (2020) to 126,535 (2025), +4.3% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 30,837 to 34,614. Largest job gain: health and social care (+1,679). Largest loss: media and telecoms (−605).

Business locations: 30,83734,614 in 2025, from 2020; +12.2% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here): 121,280126,535 in 2025, from 2020; +4.3% NZ +5.0%

Change in employees by industry in Otago, February 2020 to February 2025
Industry	2020	2025	Change
Health and social care	12,871	14,550	+1,679
Construction	11,108	12,224	+1,116
Manufacturing	8,823	9,495	+672
Media and telecoms	1,707	1,102	−605
Admin and support services	6,098	5,608	−490
Wholesale	3,753	3,422	−331

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.

16.7%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

90.5%

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 Otago, compared

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

Desk-based share by district, Otago
District or city	Share	NZ
Dunedin City	62.0%	63.6%
Queenstown-Lakes District	61.3%	63.6%
Central Otago District	57.0%	63.6%
Clutha District	54.0%	63.6%
Waitaki District	53.1%	63.6%

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

Towns and cities in Otago

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

Towns in Otago
Town	Residents	Desk-based	Business locations	Since 2020
Dunedin	100,900	62.1%	9,951	+6.6%
Queenstown	25,000	58.5%	5,937	+22.5%
Mosgiel	14,600	60.0%	1,182	+9.7%
Oamaru	13,700	48.3%	1,224	+5.7%
Wānaka	11,900	64.9%	2,844	+29.5%
Cromwell	6,780	52.4%	1,059	+15.0%
Alexandra	5,590	55.0%	948	+12.5%
Balclutha	4,340	44.1%	498	+4.4%
Arrowtown	2,840	66.0%	654	+20.4%
Milton	2,120	43.3%	180	−7.7%
Lake Hāwea	2,000	59.6%	303	+68.3%
Brighton	1,440	58.4%	108	+33.3%
Waikouaiti	1,260	55.4%	99	+6.5%
Clyde	1,170	59.6%	138	+4.5%
Palmerston	1,060	41.5%	117	+11.4%
New Zealand	4,993,923	63.6%	654,435	+9.6%

Microsoft Copilot for Otago’s largest industries

A Word summary of an Excel register is useful only if its figures and exceptions can be traced back. Set the right SharePoint access and agree who verifies the note before it is sent.^2,12

Primary production and exports

Turn a sample Excel dispatch sheet into a Word handover, leaving unresolved quantities for the packing owner.^2,12

Tourism and visitor services

Convert an approved Outlook enquiry into a draft itinerary in Word, then confirm each service detail with the operator.^2,14

About Otago

Otago had a 2023 Census population of 240,900; Ōtepoti Dunedin is its largest urban centre, while Tāhuna Queenstown is growing quickly. Rural land production and tourism are identified by Otago Regional Council as major foundations of the regional economy, and dairy, meat and fruit together made up more than 70% of Otago's reported exports in 2024. The regional workforce plan identifies technology adoption and stronger digital skills as ways to respond to labour pressure and raise productivity. Census employment is spread across construction, health, retail, education, accommodation and food services, professional services, and manufacturing.^1,2,5,12

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Otago

Primary production and food exports (dairy, meat and fruit)

Turn orchard records into a weekly harvest view
A grower or packhouse manager can use Copilot in Excel to summarise redacted picking, grading and dispatch sheets by block and week. The result is a reviewable harvest update for the team, with source rows left available for checking.¹²

Why here: 45 South's Cromwell-area cherry operation uses optical grading and is trialling autonomous vehicles, so harvest and packhouse records are a grounded Otago example for this workflow.
- Copilot in Excel
Prepare freshwater compliance correspondence
A farm administrator can ask Copilot in Word to turn approved notes into a first draft of a consent response or monitoring update, then check every figure and obligation against the underlying documents. Company files should only be used in line with the organisation's data controls.²

Why here: Otago Regional Council's land-and-water work covers rural production systems and links between growing and food processing, making freshwater paperwork a region-specific administrative task.
- Copilot in Word
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files
Coordinate exporter handovers in Teams
A food producer can use Copilot in Teams to recap a planning call, list open tasks and prepare a handover for the next shift. A manager checks dates, quality requirements and export instructions before the summary is shared.¹²

Why here: ANZ reports dairy, meat and fruit as Otago's leading export groups, where accurate production-to-dispatch handovers matter across linked businesses.
- Copilot in Teams

Tourism and visitor services (accommodation, food and experiences)

Draft a cruise-day operations brief
A visitor-service coordinator can use Copilot in Outlook and Word to combine approved arrival information, staff notes and an existing service plan into a draft briefing. The coordinator checks timings and operational instructions before sending it to the team.¹³

Why here: Port Otago lists cruise among its core business units and reported 85 cruise ships booked for the 2026/27 season, giving this workflow a concrete Otago visitor-services context.
- Copilot in Outlook
- Copilot in Word
Summarise guest-service themes for a shift lead
A hotel or activity operator can use Copilot in Teams to turn selected meeting notes into a short handover of recurring guest questions and unresolved service issues. The shift lead removes guest identifiers and checks the source notes before the summary is circulated.^13,14

Why here: Otago's visitor economy spans port cruise activity and Queenstown travel services, so consistent handovers can support teams dealing with different kinds of visitor operations.
- Copilot in Teams
Turn travel-tech event notes into a follow-up plan
An event organiser can use Copilot in PowerPoint and Loop to convert approved session notes into a concise recap and a shared list of follow-up tasks. Organisers check company names and commitments against the original notes before publishing it.¹⁴

Why here: Technology Queenstown has promoted travel-technology growth and a Queenstown industry event, creating a local setting for event follow-up and partner coordination.
- Copilot in PowerPoint
- Copilot in Loop

What Otago does

Primary production and food exports (dairy, meat and fruit). Otago Regional Council describes rural land production as a major economic foundation. ANZ's 2025 regional report identifies dairy, meat and fruit as Otago's leading export categories and documents Central Otago cherry grower, packer and exporter 45 South.^2,12 Named in public sources: 45 South¹².
Tourism and visitor services (accommodation, food and experiences). Visitor activity is a regional strength, but it varies by district. Port Otago's current business units include cruise, while Technology Queenstown describes local travel and hospitality technology businesses and work to diversify the Queenstown economy.^2,13,14,15 Named in public sources: Port Otago¹³, Ngāi Tahu Tourism¹².

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

Training venues in and near Otago

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

Scenic Hotel Dunedin City¹⁶

40 people, largest layout

Theatre capacity listed by DunedinNZ; no classroom or boardroom figure was available on the directory page.
- conference/meeting facilities
- free high-speed Wi-Fi
123 Princes Street, Dunedin 9016
Queenstown Events Centre | Te Pūāhuru¹⁹

The council advertises bookable meeting and function rooms but gives no capacity for those smaller rooms on the reviewed page.
- meeting room
- function rooms
- free on-site parking
- commercial kitchen
Dunedin conference venues¹⁶

Conference venue

DunedinNZ's venue directory lists multiple venues with meeting spaces and layouts ranging from small hotel rooms to larger event halls.

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

In the local business news

20 Nov 2025
ANZ Otago Regional Spotlight Report ANZ New Zealand
The report documents Otago's export mix and describes 45 South's investment in optical grading and autonomous orchard vehicle trials, giving a concrete local example of technology entering primary production.
10 Oct 2025
Driving tech growth without more traffic Otago Daily Times
Otago Daily Times reports on Technology Queenstown's plan to grow travel and hospitality technology businesses, alongside the challenge of diversifying a visitor-dependent economy.
19 Sept 2025
Lakes area needs a Regional Deal Technology Queenstown
Technology Queenstown's article sets out a regional case for infrastructure investment and economic diversification, with technology, education and creative work identified as possible growth areas.
Port Otago delivers strong result as Southern Link and channel upgrades progress Port Otago
Port Otago reports its 2025/26 operating result and continuing investment in port assets and the Southern Link, relevant to the region's freight and visitor connections.

A workplace session can map one authorised record from Excel or Outlook to a checked message for the next Otago team.^2,12

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops in Otago

There is no public Copilot workshop in Otago 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 Otago

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

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