Southland Careers

Start your career

Want a great career in Southland?

Southland Youth Futures aims to help young people into great careers in Southland through training and employment opportunities

Learn more

Invest in youth

Join over 50 businesses and training providers

Invest in Southland's future workforce by joining the Southland Youth Futures programme

Get involved

Great career options in Southland

Not sure about your options after school?

Southland Youth Futures aims to help young people into great careers in Southland through training and employment opportunities in the primary industries.

What are primary industries?

Agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and support services including the transport industry, rural contracting, farm services, water quality and irrigation and more.

Why primary industries?

Jobs are varied and exciting
Earn while you learn
On the job training
Stay and work in Southland

Career Pathways

Hear more stories from others that have got their start with the Southland Youth Futures programme

Case Studies

Become a Employer Excellence Partner

Want to secure your future workforce? Invest in Southland youth.

We to bring together schools, employers, training providers, industry organisations and Government agencies to build partnerships towards improving outcomes for young people in Southland.

Join over 50 businesses and organisations throughout the region who are helping secure our future labour market workforce.

Allison Beckham

Southland Youth Futures Coordinator

Venture Southland

About the programme

To ensure Southland's future prosperity it is essential that connections are made between young people and productive industry career paths.

Venture Southland established Southland Youth Futures in 2014 to better connect young Southlanders with careers in the primary sectors and associated support industries, and to strengthen the pathway between education and employment.

Southland Youth Futures is one strand within the Southland Regional Labour Market Strategy. In partnership with employers, actions are being developed to meet current and future labour force needs across five categories - female workers, older workers, international education, migrants, and young people.

Learn more about the programme and read the Southland Youth Futures report for the Southland Regional Development Strategy on the Venture Southland website

Visit Website

Employer Excellence Partners

These employers commit to Invest in Youth. As youth-friendly employers they agree to a minimum set of requirements such as

  • Regularly providing speakers for employer talks in schools
  • Hosting student tours at their workplaces
  • Offering work experience opportunities such as internships or Gateway
  • Contributing profiles of young people employed in their industries
  • Hiring young people whenever possible
  • Supporting, mentoring and upskilling young people who have joined their workplaces

Many Employer Excellence Partners are also members of the Southland Youth Futures Advisory Group which sets work programme priorities and plans new initiatives.

Training Partners

Southland Youth Futures works with providers to ensure students and careers advisers have relevant and up to date information about training options available in Southland.

Business Partners and Industry Supporters

These employers and industry organisations support Southland Youth Futures as time and resources allow and we value their contribution. We couldn’t do what we do without them.