Note: This article was first prepared for offline presentations when the reports it discusses were released. It has since been updated and published online on the date shown.
Māori are concentrated in the jobs and industries that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are most likely to change or replace. At a conservative 10% replacement rate, around 8,300 Māori jobs in just four industries would be affected.
This post brings together Māori employment data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) with the Maxim Institute’s discussion paper Gone for Good: AI and the future of work (Henderson, 2025).
Where Māori work
MBIE’s Māori in the labour market data shows Māori are under-represented in the roles least exposed to automation and over-represented in the roles most exposed to robotics.
- Labourers: about 15% of employed Māori, compared with about 9% of all workers.
- Machinery operators and drivers: about 9% of Māori, compared with about 6% of all workers.
- Service workers: about 12% of Māori, compared with about 9% of all workers.
- Managers and professionals: about 35% of Māori, compared with about 48% of all workers.
- Industries: Māori are more likely to work in agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining, and in manufacturing, than the workforce as a whole.
Figures are read from MBIE’s charts for the June 2021 quarter and are approximate.
Māori jobs exposed to AI
The Maxim Institute paper estimates the jobs affected if AI replaces 10% of roles in each industry. It describes this as a conservative assumption, and expects AI’s reach in these industries to be much higher.
| Industry | Māori employed | Māori share of workforce |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative and support services | 30,002 | 16% |
| Public administration and safety | 27,119 | 14% |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 18,720 | 14% |
| Manufacturing | 38,444 | 14% |
| Financial and insurance services | 7,100 | 7% |
Māori are about 12% of all employed people (358,366 of 2,991,355), so they are over-represented in four of these five industries.
- Financial, insurance, administrative and support services: 3,700 Māori jobs affected, out of 28,600 in total. Administrative and support services is where Māori are most over-represented.
- Public administration and safety, and transport, postal and warehousing: about 4,600 Māori jobs affected, alongside 33,000 other jobs. Budgeting, compliance, personnel management, data collection and reporting in the public sector are all exposed. Self-driving vehicles and robotic warehousing are already being trialled overseas.
Exposure grows over five years
The Maxim paper shows which tasks AI can already do and which it is expected to do within five years.
- Today: secretarial, customer service and administrative occupations are the most exposed, with up to 40–55% of their tasks exposed. Manual and trade occupations have almost no exposure.
- Within five years: secretarial, administrative and customer service roles reach 50% or more of tasks exposed. Transport and mobile machine operatives rise to about 13–26%, and process, plant and machine operatives to about 6–17%.
- Very high exposure within five years: data entry, marketing, personal assistants and secretaries, and record keeping and clerks.
The roles where Māori are concentrated may look safe today, but they are on the path of the next wave.
Businesses are already planning cuts
Verdantix’s Global Corporate Survey 2024 found more than half of businesses expect 10% of job roles to be replaced by AI agents within five years. 72% had already integrated AI into tasks such as chat, research and writing, and 37% had deployed autonomous AI agents for specific domains.
What this means for Māori
The impact will not be even. AI job losses will fall hardest on administrative, clerical, customer service and transport work, where Māori are over-represented. Without planning, AI will widen existing gaps in Māori employment and income.
Te Tiriti requires active protection. The Crown’s duty of active protection extends to Māori economic wellbeing. Government AI and workforce policy needs Māori-specific impact assessment, not a single national estimate.
Training must come before the job losses. Māori need funded, culturally grounded pathways into AI-related work, from AI literacy for whānau to governance, data and technical roles. Iwi, hapū and Māori employers should lead how that is delivered in their rohe.
Māori-led AI is part of the answer. AI built and governed by Māori creates Māori jobs and keeps value in our communities. The He Tangata, He Karetao, He Ātārangi framework can help organisations assess whether an AI system is right for Māori.
References
Henderson, P. (2025). Gone for good: AI and the future of work. Maxim Institute. https://www.maxim.org.nz/article/gone-for-good-ai-and-the-future-of-work/
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2021). Māori in the labour market: June 2021 quarter (unadjusted). https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/16892-maori-in-the-labour-market-june-2021-quarter-unadjusted
Taiuru, K. (2026). He Tangata, He Karetao, He Ātārangi: Kaupapa Māori AI framework. Taiuru & Associates. https://www.taiuru.co.nz/kaupapa-maori-ai-framework/
Verdantix. (2024). Global corporate survey 2024: Artificial intelligence budgets, priorities and tech preferences. https://www.verdantix.com/report/global-corporate-survey-2024-artificial-intelligence-budgets-priorities-and-tech-preferences
How to cite this page
Taiuru, K. (2026, November 2). AI, Automation and Māori Jobs 2024. Taiuru & Associates Ltd. https://www.taiuru.co.nz/ai-automation-and-maori-jobs/