The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is set to invest R2-billion alongside the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) with the aims of providing funding to businesses in order to create and save jobs.

The steps leaders take in managing and motivating others in tough times tend to last and endure. Decisions taken and implemented now may well be the difference between surviving and thriving. Which would you prefer?

The South African business community has had close to a decade to implement BEE policies but many businesses are reluctant to engage with B-BBEE, largely as a result of fear and misinformation. Deon Oberholzer sets the record straight.

South Africans have developed some unfortunate character traits that hamper efforts to compete on the world business stage. Unfortunately, writes Jim Freeman, those shortcomings are becoming glaring in the skills development arena.

A review of the salaries for skilled employees and senior positions in the financial sector for 2012, has revealed that Gauteng pays the best, followed by the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. This is according to the latest findings from the CareerJunction Index.

Does the thought of doing a presentation or speaking in front of your colleagues or customers make you want to run, hide or call in sick? Then you may be suffering from a very real phobia. Read more about how to overcome your speaking fears.

Implementing an effective ICT system which will promote access to education is easier said than done. While new technologies are available government must consider the practical implications of implementing these innovations in the South African economic and social context. This is according to Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize.

What does your communication say about you? Human resource specialists say decision makers in business must be aware of the implications of using the many channels of communication available to engage the market.

With the realisation that the world of work is changing and becoming increasingly online, and that ACCA needs to develop and support the eProfessional, going forward, ACCA commissioned research into e-learning and e-assessment.

If you think being a personal assistant means taking calls and messages think again. The 21st century secretary is expected to manage budgets, provide superb frontline customer service while organising schedules and networking with clientele. But are they trained to deliver?

Learners in Grades 4 to 11 have been urged to particpate in a competition which aims to raise awareness of South Africa's bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. Scholars stand a chance to win lots of cool tech-prizes like laptops, printers and digital cameras.

Trade Union Solidarity recently pointed out the need for our youth to consider attending FET colleges. Further Education and Training Colleges or FET colleges are different to universities in that they offer many of the essential courses to ensure the achievement of the skills and training needed that are essential to the South African Economy.

Occupation(ally) directed education and training will be familiar to many training practitioners, and organisational development will be familiar to many human resource practitioners. The SAODN network sessions provide a usefull way of keeping up to date with developments in the organisational development field.

Do you have Glossophobia? Sounds really serious? Are you gobsmacked that I should even ask? Before reaching for the dentists number let’s look at what Wikipedia has to say!

I had a rather sad lunch with a good friend who has struggled to find work for over two years. She is highly intelligent, educated, talented and on the right side of the affirmative action spectrum. However, she does not even get to first interview stage. You see, she carries a terrible burden - she has passed her sell-by date, having just turned 50.

The new speakers series which includes some of the world’s top thinkers is being launched at the UCT Graduate School of Business.The aim is to stimulate new thought on how to use business and the power of business for social good.

Watch the full keynote speech of the honourable Thabo Mbeki, former president of the Republic of South Africa, delivered at the opening of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) International Knowledge Management Conference on 16 January 2012.

The call for virtual universities has been answered by the latest technological tool called the Telefunken Tablet PC. The device is able to store pre-loaded learning material, a function that will forever change the landscape of tertiary education in South Africa.

Before rushing headlong into 2012, it is important to obtain an accurate assessment of the current BEE landscape. Gavin Levenstein reviews 2011 and the changes that have rewritten the way businesses co-ordinate their BEE operations.

Top officials from South Africa and France have met in Pretoria to map a way forward on how to deepen political and economic relations between the two countries. The forum aims to strengthen bilateral trade and ensure that it is more balanced.

MerSeta will run workshops dealing with the submission of mandatory and pivotal grants and the proposed changes within the regulations. Skills development faciliators have been urged to attend the workshops.