The growth in traffic on the Skills Portal ? which is a training and skills development knowledge base ? shows that South African companies continue to train their staff despite evidence of global cut backs in the training sector.

In quiet times in South Africa's economy, it is important to maintain training standards so that there are sufficiently skilled, well-trained staff members available for when the recession rolls back.

In a record month, 44 000 unique browsers visited the Skills Portal in March, according to official figures compiled by Nielsen SiteCensus. The Skills Portal is published by Portal Publishing, which is a member of the SA Online Publishers Association. Most people - usually from South African ISPs - visit the site to source information on training.

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey of local hiring trends, South Africa's hiring has increased one percent since early 2009, although employers in 23 countries are reporting their slackest hiring plans since the surveys were established in 2006.

Of the 72 000 employers worldwide who participated in the Survey, only 13 out of 33 countries expect some positive hiring activity for the coming financial quarter.

Others have also counselled on the wisdom of maintaining training despite economic recession.

Speaking at the release of the 2008 Annual Report of Government Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa), Alan Hirsch said, "When the economy recovers, companies will once again be unable to recruit suitably skilled people, unless we continue the momentum of Jipsa."

Jipsa, which aims to develop the skills that are most urgently needed in the country, was launched in March 2006 in support of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). Although the global economic crisis is having a negative impact on Jipsa, it has made huge strides in 2008, particularly in artisan and engineering training.

The Skills Portal is a knowledge base for over 350 training companies, logging 6 000 training courses, and offering frequently updated news in the skills development and human resources (HR) sectors.

The benefit to HR and training managers is that they can go to one central place to view and compare courses that are available, consider how much they cost, and what is on offer. According to recent user activity online and in training companies affiliated with The Skills Portal, South Africa's skills development is yet to feel the freeze of global recession budget cuts.

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by Caitlin (few years ago!)