Mana in Mahi - For employers

With Mana in Mahi, you can:

• help someone gain real-world skills and formal qualifications in an industry they'll love
• develop skilled, knowledgeable people for your business
• know you're helping someone create the future they deserve.

How it works

Mana in Mahi matches employers with people who are keen to start a career and need extra support to begin and maintain their work and training journey.

If you're keen to help provide that support through Mana in Mahi while also developing the skills your business needs, we'll:

• work closely with you to understand what you need
• help you recruit the right person for your team
• help pay for any pre-employment training the employee might need
• provide a wage subsidy to help offset the time you'll need to invest in their training and ongoing development
• help pay for industry training course fees not already covered by other government schemes
• arrange regular contact with you to:
  • find out what's going well
  • identify any further help you need.

We'll also support your new employee directly by:

• helping them set achievable goals
• contributing to the cost of additional education supports they may need
• supporting them to start their qualification or apprenticeship
• giving incentive payments to motivate them to meet their goals
• meeting with them to check in on how things are going.

Who can take part

To take part in Mana in Mahi, your business needs to:

• have a permanent full-time or part-time position you want to fill
• be offering at least the adult minimum wage
• commit to supporting your new employee on a relevant NZQA-approved industry training pathway.

The person you're employing also needs to be eligible for Mana in Mahi.

What you can get

Mana in Mahi recognises the investment you're making in your employee's future through a range of financial and pastoral supports.

Depending on the training pathway and needs of the person you're employing, Mana in Mahi can provide:

• a wage subsidy of up to $16,000 in your employee's first year and up to $8,000 in their second year while still training
• up to $2,000 to help with pre-employment training
• funding of up to $8,000 each year towards your employee's industry training course (where not covered under Fees Free or the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund scheme) for up to 2 years
• ongoing coaching and mentoring for you and your employee.

Your employee will also have access to:

• help to pay for additional education or support they may need
• support to start their qualification or apprenticeship
• wrap-around pastoral care to help navigate any challenges
• incentive payments of up to $6,000 over 2 years.

How to get involved

If you'd like to know more about supporting someone as they start a new career through Mana in Mahi, you can:

• talk to your local Work and Income work broker
• email Mana_in_Mahi@msd.govt.nz with:
  • your name
  • the name of your business
  • your business address (including town/city)
  • the best phone number to contact you on.

• call us on 0800 778 008

If you take part in Mana in Mahi, someone may contact you to ask if you can take part in an interview or survey. This will help us see how Mana in Mahi is working your business and participants and how we could make things even better. You don't have to take part but if you do, it will be anonymous and confidential.