Years spent gaming may be giving some young New Zealanders a head start in modern trades as automation, robotics and digital technology transform workplaces.
“It’s actually really amazing how some of these young people are coming through, and they have, like, a natural affinity for technology. It’s kind of like they’re hardwired,” says Competenz national manager for apprentices Kevin Withell.
The industry training organisation supports more than 30 sectors and has coined the term “joystick trades” after hearing from apprentices who are finding skills developed behind a controller increasingly relevant at work.
The company says strategic thinking, problem solving, spatial reasoning, resource management and the ability to quickly learn complex systems are becoming more valuable as trades adopt new technology.
Competenz plastics apprentices Josh Felise-Anderson and Brendan Sekene work as plastics technicians at Pact Group in East Tamaki, Auckland, where robotics and automated machinery are part of everyday production.
Felise-Anderson, Plastics NZ’s 2026 Plastics Learner of the Year, says he quickly recognised a connection between the gaming he enjoyed growing up and the work he was learning to do.
“I used to play a lot of video games when I was younger. I kind of related that to my job. Just fine-tuning these machines and setting them up, I really felt like I liked doing that kind of thing.”
His mother used to tell him gaming was “ruining his brain”, but Felise-Anderson sees it differently.
“I actually think it opens your mind because it’s the strategic type of plays you’ve got to make to get ahead. There’s definitely an art to it.”
Felise-Anderson describes himself as a class clown who never felt particularly at home in the classroom. Through his apprenticeship, he discovered an aptitude for robotics and automation and has since helped colleagues learn to use new robotic systems.
Withell says Competenz is seeing that willingness to engage with unfamiliar technology more widely.
“When you put a new piece of equipment into a factory, or you’re working on something that’s very, very technical, they’ll step forward and step into the technology. Josh has helped write ‘how to’ guides in standard operating procedure manuals, supporting his team to learn new machines.”
The crossover between gaming and modern trades is not confined to Generation Z or millennials.
At Auckland advanced manufacturer Buckley Systems, 51-year-old Competenz learner Maika McMath says gaming sparked his fascination with technology. It led him to build his own computers and helped steer him into advanced manufacturing.
McMath sees parallels between building a gaming computer and assembling the company’s complex electromagnets, which are used in particle accelerator technology.
Competenz reports similar experiences in other sectors. Forestry apprentices operate harvesting machinery using joystick controls, refrigeration technicians work with increasingly digital systems, and signmakers and manufacturers are adopting automation and artificial intelligence.
Withell says one challenge is ensuring young people know these career options exist.
Nine new industry-led subjects are planned for years 12 and 13 from 2029, including Next-Gen Manufacturing, Engineering Technology and Applied Intelligent Systems. They are intended to give students greater exposure to vocational and technology-based career pathways while still at school.
“It’s time for change. The new subjects should give secondary school students a taster or, at the very least, a much broader awareness of what some of these careers can actually look like,” Withell says.
His perspective on gaming has shifted at home as well as at work.
“You’re talking to a father who, at times, thought about taking the Wi-Fi modem to work with him to try and get his son out of his bedroom.”
The challenge now, he says, is helping young gamers recognise how their abilities could apply beyond the screen.
“They’re great at problem solving, they think really fast, they’re really nimble. The next step is to say to Mum and Dad and to their school’s careers advisor, ‘How can I leverage this into a job?’
“The first step is to come out of your bedroom.”