AUT’s new business degree major will provide graduates with the skills to foster cooperative workplace relations and avoid the pitfalls of mismanaged and negligent employment relations, says the university’s professor of employment relations, Ray Markey.
Launched last month, the new Bachelor of Business Degree combines human resource management and employment relations majors – reflecting the more holistic approach to people management in workplaces, says Markey.
“Human resource management has become increasingly important as part of more strategic approach to management and deployment of human resources. In the New Zealand environment post the Employment Relations Act, an understanding of employment law and the role of actors external to the organisations such as trade unions, have also become critical for managers.”
The new specific combined major will fill gap in the existing business education market, he says.
More Kiwis changed roles than got a pay rise in latest quarter
Management Editorial Team
July 21, 2026
Close to one in 10 New Zealand employees changed roles inside their own company in the past three months, but pay across the market barely moved, new data shows.
