Tag: skills development

With the workplace constantly changing, and with almost every facet of industry and business having experienced rapid shifts in the last three years, the need for specific skillsets has changed accordingly. Soft skills are on the rise as a contributing factor for success in today’s post-pandemic world, because they lubricate change, amplify agility and strengthen resilience.

The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission’s latest report on empowerment trends shows a decrease in overall black ownership, as well as in black women ownership. The B-BBEE Commission has released its annual trends report for the 2021 calendar year.

According to McKinsey, the tech-enabled insurer of the future will bear little resemblance to the institutions that exist today. Digitalisation, cloud computing, robotic process automation, and the Internet of Things are just some of the elements influencing the direction of the industry.

As leaders meet to discuss the state of the world and the difficult road ahead at the World Economic Forum, a frank and honest discussion about the loss of educational opportunities in developing markets is long overdue.  

Over the years in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, we have learnt about the effectiveness of purpose-led partnerships. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic provided us with a sense of urgency in supporting individuals and households to take full advantage of the digital economy.

When the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act was introduced in 2003, the goal was to meet specific economic transformation goals by creating an environment where more black persons could be part of the ownership, management, procurement, and skills development process to drive socio-economic development.

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) funded bursaries are the answer to South Africa’s staggering youth unemployment rate. How can we fix youth unemployment in South Africa? One of the greatest challenges we face, has been called a ticking time bomb on more than one occasion.

A critical debate is needed in boardrooms right now on how to develop new thinking when it comes to sustainability. The very word has become ubiquitous, overtraded and I worry at times that it has lost its import. Simply put sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve their own objectives.

The Employment Services Amendment Bill (ESAB) and the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP), which are open for commentary, will have a material impact on workforce strategies and design. The reason for this lies in the fact that the Minister of Labour will be empowered to set quotas for representation of foreign nationals after having taken scarce and critical skills into account and based on the SA national labour market goals which include employment creation and skills development.

As South Africa battles a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, all eyes are on how businesses will steady the ship and continue to prepare themselves for future shocks and disruptions. This, coupled with a global surge in cyber attacks, means that digital transformation and acceleration remain as relevant and important, if not more so than ever.