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Tier C New Zealand · 2025

AI Job Risk in New Zealand - Which Occupations Are Most at Risk?

The short answer: Clerical support workers score 8.5/10 - the highest AI exposure in New Zealand.

Which jobs are most at risk from AI in New Zealand? Clerical support workers leads at 8.5/10. Workforce average: 5.3/10. Data covers 2.6M workers. Free. Official government data.

Total Workforce
2.6M
workers tracked
Avg AI Exposure
5.3/10
workforce-weighted
Most Exposed
Clerical support workers
8.5/10
Safest Occupation
Craft and related trades workers
2.5/10

All Occupations Ranked by AI Exposure

7 ISCO-08 occupation groups · data year 2025 · Tier C ILO employment data with gender breakdown and time-series 2010–2025

ISCO Occupation Group AI Exposure Robotics Risk WFH Potential Employment
4 Clerical support workers 8.5/10 2.5/10 8.5/10 311K
2 Professionals 6.5/10 1.5/10 7.5/10 624K
1 Managers 5.5/10 1.5/10 7.0/10 408K
3 Technicians and associate professionals 5.5/10 3.5/10 4.5/10 410K
5 Service and sales workers 3.5/10 4.5/10 1.5/10 432K
8 Plant and machine operators and assemblers 3.0/10 7.5/10 1.0/10 200K
7 Craft and related trades workers 2.5/10 4.5/10 1.0/10 222K

AI/robotics/WFH scores are research-based estimates (Frey-Osborne, OECD, IMF 2024), not official statistics. Hover occupation name for rationale. Employment from: ILO ILOSTAT (CC BY 4.0), OECD Average Annual Wages (USD PPP, 2024).

AI Disruption Context

World Bank indicators showing when disruption will arrive and how resilient the workforce is.

Risk Velocity
8.7/10
Disruption imminent (1-3 years)
Recovery Resilience
7.9/10
High resilience - workers can pivot
Sovereign Buffer
6.5/10
Moderate buffer - limited retraining capacity
Demographic Alignment
Labor shortage solver
Aging workforce means automation fills critical gaps

Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0) - IT.NET.BBND.P2, IT.NET.SECR.P6, HD_HCIP_OTJL_TO, SP social protection indicators.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which job is most at risk from AI in New Zealand?
Clerical support workers has the highest AI exposure score in New Zealand at 8.5/10. This occupation involves routine information handling that current AI systems can perform effectively.
What is the average AI exposure score in New Zealand?
The workforce-weighted average AI exposure score in New Zealand is 5.3/10, covering 2.6M workers across 7 occupation groups. Each group is weighted by its share of total employment.
Which jobs are safest from AI in New Zealand?
Craft and related trades workers has the lowest AI exposure score in New Zealand at 2.5/10. These roles require physical presence or manual dexterity in unpredictable environments that current AI cannot automate at scale.
When will AI disruption arrive in New Zealand?
Based on digital infrastructure readiness, New Zealand scores 8.7/10 for AI Risk Velocity. Disruption imminent (1-3 years). This is derived from World Bank broadband and secure internet server data.
How well can New Zealand's workforce adapt to AI disruption?
New Zealand scores 7.9/10 for Workforce Recovery Capacity. High resilience - workers can pivot. This combines the World Bank Human Capital Index on-the-job learning score and social protection coverage data.
Is automation good or bad for New Zealand's workforce?
New Zealand is classified as 'Labor shortage solver'. Aging workforce means automation fills critical gaps. This is based on World Bank old-age dependency ratio and fertility rate data.
Where does the New Zealand workforce data come from?
The New Zealand data comes from: ILO ILOSTAT (CC BY 4.0); OECD Average Annual Wages (USD PPP, 2024). All data is from official government or intergovernmental sources and is freely available at worldjobsdata.com.
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