Doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n6p63 The object of this paper was to examine skills shortage in South Africa specifically to unearth the myriad arguments around the subject but more importantly to unveil what has consistently lacked in the narratives of previous authors on the subject. In this regard, this paper has provided interesting insights into the attempts by countries such as New Zealand and Australia in stemming the tide of the scourge. The authors chose literature review as the main source of data collection. The paper also dishes what the authors consider as possible remedies to the scourge, while it advises that the problem of skills shortage is not the exclusive preserve of government. Further, the authors acknowledge that although the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and its learnership programmes have experienced a huge amount of criticism, skills development is and will remain a dynamic and evolving process for addressing skills shortage as a long term strategy. There is no doubt that this paper has value in that it draws attention to the various issues associated with skills shortage especially in South Africa. Although th

The study aimed to understand the recruitment and selection-productivity fit within a tertiary institution in South Africa. Essentially, by examining this relationship, it will be easier to obtain a better understanding of the essential components of recruitment and selection that contribute to the productivity of a tertiary institution. The unit of analysis of this study comprised academic and non-academic staff of the institution. This study adopted a quantitative approach utilising a Likert scale questionnaire to serve as the primary source of data collection. A future study could emphasise the development of a theoretical framework that links specifically to the peculiarities of the tertiary education sector in South Africa. A further study could also unpack how the components of recruitment and selection can be better harnessed to attract the interest of young South Africans to academe. The paper addresses a matter of significance both to HR practice and scholarship. The paper concludes thus: Recruitment and selection processes impact productivity; hence management MUST adopt best practice for these crucial HR functions.

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The unique and dynamic Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in South Africa strives to thrive in a challenging business environment with the attendant need for stability, loyal and satisfied workforce. An empirical investigation was, therefore, conducted utilizing managerial and non-managerial employees in a stratified sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered to 250 employees from four selected organizations. The essence was to examine the nature of the relationship among change implementation, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Four significant results emerged. Firstly, there is a positive but moderate relationship between change implementation and OCB; there is a high or strong positive relationship between change implementation and job satisfaction; there is a positive, but moderate relationship between OCB and job satisfaction; and lastly the results confirm the assumption that job satisfaction moderates the relationship between change implementation and OCB. BPO firms need to understand the effects of change implementation on OCB and job satisfaction. This is because change management is inevitable in the BPO industry; therefore, organizations have to be constantly alert to tackle its demands. Keywords: change management, job satisfaction, intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior. JEL Classification: J240, J280, L240, M120