The Tertiary Education Commission spent nearly $22 million replacing a key careers information website for jobseekers and school-leavers, only to see usage slump 20 percent.
Tahatū Career Navigator replaced the Careers NZ site last December, following a five-year development process beginning in 2020.
The commission said it spent $21.7m on the project, but the number of users this year had dropped.
“Over the last three months, the Tahatū platform has averaged 138,852 users per month, while in the same period for 2025, careers.govt.nz averaged 175,374 users,” it said.
The commission said the drop was because Tahatū was a newer website, whereas careers.govt.nz “benefited from decades of brand recognition and established search demand”.
However, the old careers.govt.nz url leads directly to Tahatū and searching “careers NZ” also leads to the new site.
The commission said the new site had annual operating costs of $3.5m, including depreciation and ongoing support, resourcing and maintenance.
“Tahatū Career Navigator provides a significantly enhanced and data-driven experience, offering advanced occupations intelligence, workforce insights and integrated tools that extend far beyond the capabilities of the previous website,” it said.
“A good example of this is the Tahatū Interest quiz, which connects people’s interests with potential careers. This has already had over 200,000 completions, outstripping the usage of the former Career Quest quiz on careers.govt.nz.”
The commission said the new site had resources and activities for career advisors, teachers and others who supported people to make education and career decisions.
It also provided information about jobs and careers that was used by other government agencies, such as the Ministry of Social Development and Immigration New Zealand.
For example, Stats NZ used Tahatū data to help build a new National Occupations List.
“This replaced an outdated system and significantly saved redevelopment costs, while delivering a more up-to-date picture of jobs in New Zealand,” the commission said.