South Waikato District has a large and versatile labour force with skills to meet the varied needs of industry. Because of the Districts strengths in forestry, agriculture and engineering the local workforce included a large number of qualified and highly skilled professionals.

The District has a sufficient workforce to deal with current and future employment needs and the Skills Gap Strategy ensures any skills gaps are identified and addressed. Projects identified from skills gap research, such as Dairy Push and the Trade Training Centre, ensure businesses are supported and individuals are trained to meet the specific needs of key industries.

The overall labour force (between the ages of 15 and 64 years) in the south Waikato District is predicted to grow by 1.3% between 2001 and 2026. The cost of labour is below the New Zealand average. Figures from the Quarterly Review, March 2008 revealed males and females in South Waikato District earned an hourly rate of $24.88 and $19.55 respectively compared to averages for New Zealand equal to $ 25.04 for males and $21.19 for females.The largest industry in terms of employees was the manufacturing industry which employs 37.4% of the Districts workforce followed by the agriculture industry, and forestry and fishing industry.