Screen-print illustration of Dunedin Railway Station — Illustration generated with AI.

45.88° S, 170.50° E. Dunedin City, Otago (Ōtākou)

Microsoft Copilot training in Dunedin

Dunedin education and health teams often pass information from an approved document to a colleague’s next action. Copilot training can make that path visible in Word, Teams and Excel, with the responsible person checking the result.^2,18

Enquire Read the local brief

62.1% of Dunedin’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

	A	B	C	D
1	Role type	Dunedin	NZ	Diff (pts)
2	Desk-based	62.1%	63.6%	−1.5
3	People-facing	12.1%	9.0%	+3.1
4	Hands-on	25.8%	27.4%	−1.6
5	Employed residents	52,008	2,622,534

About 32,300 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: 101,0002023 Census
Business locations: 9,951Feb 2025, +6.6% since 2020
Employees (jobs here): 54,305at local businesses, Feb 2025
Self-employed or employers: 11.6%of employed residents, NZ 16.2%

What AI means for work in Dunedin

5 findings from Stats NZ data for Dunedin, and what each means for Microsoft Copilot training.

Workforce by occupation group, Dunedin against New Zealand

62.1% of employed residents in Dunedin work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. 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, Dunedin and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation group	People	Dunedin	NZ
Managers	6,495	12.5%	18.3%
Professionals	15,591	30.0%	26.8%
Technicians and trades workers	6,438	12.4%	12.5%
Community and personal service workers	6,303	12.1%	9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers	5,544	10.7%	10.8%
Sales workers	4,671	9.0%	7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers	2,436	4.7%	5.9%
Labourers	4,530	8.7%	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).

Education: 13.9% of local jobs, 1.6× the national share

Top employer: health and social care, 10,459 jobs (19.3%). 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, Dunedin and New Zealand, February 2025
Industry	Jobs	Share	NZ	×
Health and social care	10,459	19.3%	12.0%	1.6×
Education	7,533	13.9%	8.5%	1.6×
Retail	5,724	10.5%	9.3%	1.1×
Construction	4,460	8.2%	8.2%	1.0×
Hospitality	4,377	8.1%	7.2%	1.1×
Professional services	3,453	6.4%	8.3%	0.8×
Public administration	3,420	6.3%	6.4%	1.0×
Manufacturing	3,215	5.9%	9.4%	0.6×
Other services	1,996	3.7%	3.5%	1.1×
Transport and warehousing	1,946	3.6%	4.2%	0.9×

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 +6.6% and employees +0.6%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 53,975 (2020) to 54,305 (2025), +0.6% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 9,336 to 9,951. Largest job gain: health and social care (+1,319). Largest loss: media and telecoms (−630).

Business locations: 9,3369,951 in 2025, from 2020; +6.6% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here): 53,97554,305 in 2025, from 2020; +0.6% NZ +5.0%

Change in employees by industry in Dunedin, February 2020 to February 2025
Industry	2020	2025	Change
Health and social care	9,140	10,459	+1,319
Manufacturing	2,965	3,215	+250
Professional services	3,243	3,453	+210
Media and telecoms	1,323	693	−630
Wholesale	2,028	1,670	−358
Education	7,783	7,533	−250

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

On-site sessions, at your workplace, usually suit teams here better than remote ones. We come to you.

11.5%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

91.6%

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.

Self-employed and employers: 11.6% (New Zealand 16.2%)

Most workers here are employees of organisations, the setting where Microsoft 365 Copilot rollouts are planned centrally, with licences, policy and champions.

11.6%

self-employed or employers

New Zealand 16.2%

Employed residents whose status in employment is employer, or self-employed without employees.

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

Copilot for Dunedin’s largest employers

The University of Otago and the city’s health services offer specific urban workflows. A useful worksheet records the source file, its permission, the draft owner and the point where expert review happens.^2,18,23

Education and research

Turn an approved Word course outline into a Teams question list, with the programme owner checking every requirement.^2,16

Health services

Use a de-identified Excel service schedule to prepare a Word operations note; a qualified staff member verifies the entries.^18,23

About Dunedin

Ōtepoti Dunedin pairs a large tertiary and health-sciences base with specialist technology, port logistics and a visitor economy. The University of Otago’s 2024 impact report estimates it contributed $1.31 billion to Dunedin and supported 6,259 FTE jobs locally; these are total economic effects, not direct university jobs. Enterprise Dunedin’s March 2026 monitor reports 4,950 tourism-supported jobs in the city in 2025 and visitor spending growth of 7.2% in the year to March 2026. Dunedin-based clinical research organisation ZenTech was the subject of a September 2026 report about a health-data breach, making careful handling of sensitive information a particularly local training consideration.^2,13,23

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Dunedin

Education and research

Turn research-group meetings into a grant action list
A research coordinator can use Teams to summarise a project discussion, then place confirmed owners and deadlines in a shared Loop workspace. The principal investigator checks the action list before it feeds a funding submission.²

Why here: The University of Otago supports an estimated 6,259 FTE jobs in Dunedin when direct and flow-on effects are counted.
- Copilot in Teams
- Loop
Shape an evidence-led faculty funding draft
A faculty administrator can use Copilot in Word to draft from approved project documents and grant guidance held in the organisation’s files. Researchers verify claims and citations before the draft leaves the team.²

Why here: Dunedin’s University of Otago has a large research and tertiary contribution to the local economy.
- Copilot in Word
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files
Prepare a concise conference-delegate presentation
An academic can use Copilot in PowerPoint to turn a reviewed research summary into a first-pass presentation for visiting delegates. The author checks data, attribution and institutional approval before presenting it.²⁵

Why here: Enterprise Dunedin says the city has secured international conferences through work with the University and sector partners.
- Copilot in PowerPoint

Health care and clinical research

Ground staff answers in approved service documents
A health administrator can use Copilot Chat with approved internal files to draft a response to a routine policy question. A qualified staff member checks the current policy and removes personal or clinical information before sharing the answer.²³

Why here: A Dunedin clinical-trial organisation was recently involved in a reported health-data cyber incident, underlining the need for strict file controls.
- Copilot Chat
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files
Review anonymised service-operation trends
A service manager can use Copilot in Excel to chart approved, aggregated operational measures such as appointment volumes or turnaround times. Staff confirm the definitions and keep identifiable patient records out of the workbook.¹⁸

Why here: Health care and social assistance accounts for 996 business units across Dunedin City territorial authority.
- Copilot in Excel
Prepare a cross-team operations handover
A health-research manager can use Teams to draft an internal action summary from an approved planning meeting. The team checks roles and deadlines and keeps clinical notes and personal information out of the meeting summary.^18,23

Why here: The city combines a large health sector with university and clinical-trial research activity.
- Copilot in Teams

What Dunedin does

Education and research. The University of Otago is a major education and research anchor. Its 2024 impact report estimates $1.31 billion in local value added and 6,259 FTE jobs supported in Dunedin; these figures include flow-on effects from staff and student spending.^2,16 Named in public sources: University of Otago, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka².
Health care and clinical research. Stats NZ records 996 health-care and social-assistance business units across Dunedin City territorial authority in February 2025. Dunedin-based ZenTech provides clinical-trial and analytical-laboratory services; the Otago Daily Times reported a health-data incident involving the firm in September 2026.^18,23 Named in public sources: Zenith Technology (ZenTech)²³.
Professional, scientific and technical services. Dunedin City territorial authority had 1,278 business units in this category in February 2025. Dunedin-based Iris Data Science describes local work in machine learning and artificial intelligence across areas including agriculture and human health.^12,18 Named in public sources: Iris Data Science¹².
Tourism, events and hospitality. Enterprise Dunedin’s 2026 update reports 4,950 tourism-supported jobs in the city in the year to March 2025; tourist expenditure grew 7.2% and commercial guest nights 6.1% in the year to March 2026. Dunedin City territorial authority had 690 accommodation and food-services business units in February 2025.^13,14,18,25 Named in public sources: Enterprise Dunedin¹.
Port logistics and marine services. Dunedin City territorial authority had 369 transport, postal and warehousing business units in February 2025. Port Otago’s Dunedin Bulk Port has wharf-side cold storage used primarily for fishing customers and handles log storage, scaling and export; the company reports about 330 employees across its business in 2023-24.^4,18 Named in public sources: Port Otago⁴.
Construction. Stats NZ counts 1,440 construction business units across Dunedin City territorial authority in February 2025. The city’s 2024-2054 Future Development Strategy includes long-term planning for business land and infrastructure capacity.^17,18
Property and real-estate services. Rental, hiring and real-estate services was the largest business-unit category in Dunedin City territorial authority, with 2,511 geographic units at February 2025. The Dunedin City figure covers the city authority and should not be read as a count for the smaller urban-area geography alone.¹⁸

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

Training venues in and near Dunedin

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 City, Highland Room¹⁹

40 people, largest layout

The venue lists 24 in classroom or boardroom layouts, 30 square, and 40 theatre style.
- Air-conditioned
- Catering available
123 Princes Street, Central Dunedin
Dunedin Public Library, Dunningham Suite⁹

Library

Available to hire for meetings and workshops; capacity is not stated on the venue page.
Dunedin Centre, Conference Rooms 1 and 2¹⁰

Conference venue

The venue page describes flexible meeting and seminar layouts; the combined room specification gives a maximum theatre capacity of 120.

1 Harrop Street, Dunedin

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

In the local business news

10 Sept 2026
Sensitive files stolen from Dunedin health tech firm in data breach Otago Daily Times
The Otago Daily Times reported that Dunedin clinical-trial organisation ZenTech was responding to a health-data cyber incident. It is a recent local example for discussing privacy controls, incident response and limits on using confidential material with AI tools.
20 Aug 2026
Update Report on the Dunedin Economy for the Year to March 2026 Dunedin City Council
Enterprise Dunedin's council report includes a current city monitor: it records tourism-supported jobs in 2025 and visitor-spending and guest-night growth in the year to March 2026. These are territorial-authority city measures, not counts for Dunedin's town-level SA2 boundary.
1 Mar 2026
AI Mastery Series, Cohort 2 in Dunedin Incredible.so
Incredible.so advertised a Dunedin business-leader AI series starting in March 2026, describing practical AI and workflow training. The page also contains older session details, so current availability should be confirmed with the organiser.
1 Sept 2025
Dunedin Visitor Industry Update September 2025 Enterprise Dunedin
Enterprise Dunedin's newsletter reports destination-marketing activity, visitor-industry networking and planned local events. It records more than 20,000 bookings on the Dunedin-Gold Coast Jetstar service by September 2025.

Around Dunedin

Bank Street in Dunedin by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dunedin and neighbouring towns. Dots are towns covered on this site.

Dunedin City and Microsoft Copilot training across Otago. Distances are straight-line.

A Dunedin workplace exercise can follow one permitted education or service file into a reviewed Microsoft 365 message.^2,18

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops near Dunedin

There is no public Copilot workshop near Dunedin 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 near Dunedin

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