2011 is the year global economies would rather forget: the Eurozone and the United States economies reeled from crisis to crisis, and while many businesses closed their doors for good this year in South Africa and unemployment is high, there is evidence of an upturn in retailing.

The Manpower Employment Outlook survey indicates employer negativity in provincial hiring plans for the first quarter of 2012, with the Western Cape as the province with the strongest employment growth.

More than any other population group black African children are most likely to be abandoned out of the three million orphaned children in South Africa, revealed a Stats SA report.

There are a growing number of people finding employment in the formal non-agriculture sector according to a recent Stats SA survey which covered private and public enterprises across the country.

For many businesses December is the busiest period and it’s important for employees to plan at least six-to-12 months ahead of time, and engage with employers on the optimum time to enjoy the mandatory leave periods offered.

Are short courses an asset to the skills development landscape or do they detract from the learning process? Des Squire looks at the value short course and skills programmes bring to the education platform.

The UCT Distinguished Social Responsiveness Award which recognises socially responsive research was presented to Dr Ralph Hamann. The initiative links researchers, business, government and civil society in the pursuit of enhanced food security.

Developing a sustainable business may seem like an unnecessary and laborious task but it is the foundation of future business success, particularly in the volatile economies of the world markets which are so prevalent today.

Media reports indicate that there are a large number of migrants within South African borders. Many come with skills that are in short supply among SA citizens. The temptation then is to employ these migrant. But what are the requirements, and what are the dangers of employing someone illegally? Ivan Israelstam provides cautionary advice.

The idea of storytelling is growing in popularity and becoming a widely used tool to communicate thoughts, present ideas and influence others. How does it work? Nancy Duarte talks about the power of storytelling and how it can be used to convey information in a way that people will remember.

2012 will prove to be the starting year for a number of major new employment legislation initiatives says Rob Cooper, a Payroll tax expert at Softline VIP, part of the Sage Group plc.

Where do private ETD providers fit into the QCTO? In order to answer this question we need to dissect the QCTO system.

The Setas are pushing providers to offer full qualifications, or at least registered skills programmes as opposed to stand-alone Unit Standards. To offer full qualifications, we have to be registered with a Council for Quality Assurance - ours being UMALUSI.

Much has been said recently relating to the position of women in business and the need for education as a means of unlocking businesswomen’s self belief. None of us know what the future holds in store. What we do know is that whatever the future - change is inevitable.

Many members find great difficulty with all the terms used on the site. The following simple description gives you a start to distinguishing between Leanerships, Internships, and In-service training.

You can imagine the boss arriving at the HR Manager’s office asking for a policy on social media. Have HR fallen into the trap of relying on 'dumb' policies?

Governments, including 38 industrialised countries, have agreed to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol from January 2013 as the COP17 drew to a close.

While there are too many negative stories, some are too good not to use, but how do you use negative stories in a way that they are not demoralizing and you are not perceived as a negative. In this video we will reveal the secrets of how you can make negative stories work for you.