Copilot Training NZ, home
Screen-print illustration of Lake Manapōuri and the Fiordland mountains, Southland District
Illustration generated with AI.

Southland (Murihiku). Council area

Copilot training in Southland District

A Southland District team may maintain files far from the people who prepare customer or shift updates. Copilot training can identify the approved source, the file owner and the person who checks the draft.2,3,4,5

Enquire Read the local brief

60.1% of Southland District’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

Role typeSouthland DistrictNZDiff (pts)
Desk-based 60.1% 63.6% −3.5
People-facing 6.2% 9.0% −2.8
Hands-on 33.7% 27.4% +6.4
Employed residentsn/p2,622,534

About 11,000 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
31,8002023 Census
Business locations
6,843Feb 2025, −1.8% since 2020
Employees (jobs here)
15,550at local businesses, Feb 2025
Towns with a page
31,000+ residents

What AI means for work in Southland District

4 findings from Stats NZ data for Southland District, and what each means for Microsoft Copilot training.

Workforce by occupation group, Southland District against New Zealand

60.1% of employed residents in Southland District work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. The difference is mostly labourers: 15.7% 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, Southland District and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation groupChartPeopleSouthland DistrictNZ
Managers 6,045 33.0% 18.3%
Professionals 2,640 14.4% 26.8%
Technicians and trades workers 1,839 10.1% 12.5%
Community and personal service workers 1,137 6.2% 9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers 1,431 7.8% 10.8%
Sales workers 882 4.8% 7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers 1,461 8.0% 5.9%
Labourers 2,868 15.7% 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).

Farming, forestry, fishing: 35.6% of local jobs, 7.4× the national share

Top employer: farming, forestry, fishing, 5,553 jobs (35.6%). 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, Southland District and New Zealand, February 2025
IndustryChartJobsShareNZ×
Farming, forestry, fishing 5,553 35.6% 4.8% 7.4×
Manufacturing 3,062 19.6% 9.4% 2.1×
Transport and warehousing 1,420 9.1% 4.2% 2.2×
Hospitality 1,306 8.4% 7.2% 1.2×
Education 936 6.0% 8.5% 0.7×
Construction 698 4.5% 8.2% 0.6×
Retail 668 4.3% 9.3% 0.5×
Health and social care 328 2.1% 12.0% 0.2×
Arts and recreation 292 1.9% 2.0% 0.9×
Professional services 287 1.8% 8.3% 0.2×

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 −1.8% and employees −5.5%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 16,463 (2020) to 15,550 (2025), −5.5% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 6,969 to 6,843. Largest job gain: arts and recreation (+137). Largest loss: farming, forestry, fishing (−654).

Business locations
6,9696,843 in 2025, from 2020
−1.8% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here)
16,46315,550 in 2025, from 2020
−5.5% NZ +5.0%
Change in employees by industry in Southland District, February 2020 to February 2025
IndustryChart20202025Change
Arts and recreation 155292+137
Education 809936+127
Health and social care 293328+35
Farming, forestry, fishing 6,2075,553−654
Manufacturing 3,5413,062−479
Retail 768668−100

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

Remote sessions fit how people here already work, and live training over Teams reaches staff across sites.

29.8%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

84.0%

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.

Towns in Southland District

Each town has its own page and brief. Largest first.

Towns in Southland District
TownResidentsDesk-based Chart Business locationsSince 2020
Te Ānau 2,750 55.4% 444 +12.1%
Winton 2,480 53.2% 300 +4.2%
Riverton 1,710 52.6% 222 +27.6%
New Zealand4,993,92363.6%654,435+9.6%

Where Microsoft Copilot helps first in Southland District

Give every workbook a site label and a clear access rule before using it in Microsoft 365. A reviewer should check that summaries do not turn proposed work into current operations.2,5,6,4

Dairy processing

Use a fictional Excel dairy register to draft a Word shift note, then verify quantities and exceptions at the source.2

Fiordland visitor services

Prepare an Outlook reply from an approved Fiordland visitor document, with local staff checking travel details.5,6

A district session could trace a safe file through SharePoint, draft and review for teams working in separate settlements.2,5,6

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops in Southland

There is no public Copilot workshop in Southland 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.

Register interest in a public workshop in Southland

Tell me when there is a workshop in Southland

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

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Elsewhere in Southland

Lake Manapouri outlet into Waiau River
Lake Manapouri outlet into Waiau River by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain.

Microsoft Copilot training in Southland District: questions

Who verifies an Edendale worksheet summary?

The production owner should compare the Word draft with the Excel entries before it is shared.2

Can a visitor team work from a shared guide?

An approved SharePoint guide can supply the draft, while local staff check current bookings and transport arrangements.5,6

What records would an Edendale cream project handover need?

Keep the project file, latest Excel action list and Word update linked to their owners before sending a Teams summary.2,4,5

Train your team in Southland District

  1. ScopeHeadcount, sites, Microsoft 365 plan and licences, and the teams you want to start with.
  2. PlanWe propose a course, a pilot group and a format, and agree the files and meetings to use.
  3. TrainOn-site or over Teams, in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, with your own work.
  • In person
  • Remote
  • Half-day workshop
  • Full-day workshop
  • Team rollout

Independent training by TheColab. Not affiliated with Microsoft.

Enquire

Tell us about your team in Southland District. We reply by email with a suggested course and format.

We use these details only to reply to you, and store them securely with TheColab. Privacy

Sources

Local research checked 29 September 2026. Population and business figures come from Stats NZ.