News and Updates

Unemployment in South Africa is at its highest level in almost 15 years and remains one of the highest in the world, with nearly 7 million people currently without jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.4 percentage points from 27.6% in the first quarter of 2019 to 29% in the second quarter of the year. According to StatsSA, this is as a result of an increase of 455 000 in the number of people who are unemployed. Ralph Ruthford, Group Executive: Human Resources at Novus Holdings says that Novus Holdings,…

With the spotlight on National Recycling Day on Friday 20 September and in the run up to Recycling Week between 16 and 21 September 2019, industry experts are calling for consumers to learn about the environmental benefits of recycling. Michelene Locke, sales director at ITB Flexible Packaging Solutions (ITB), a Novus Holdings company, says that consumers need to understand why recycling is key to keeping plastic out of the environment, and our oceans. “Plastic is not inherently bad; it is our behaviour around plastic that needs to change. In some…

At the recent Presidency Budget Vote 2019/2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the importance of giving the youth a hand-up, and called on the country to support the youth through education, training, or employment opportunities. This is in light of the fact that, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), more than 55% of youth aged between 15 and 24 years of age are unemployed, making them the most vulnerable group of the country, with a staggering 51% not having the finances to pay for their tuition according to the Higher…

The popular TV series Mad Men tells the fictional stories of the cutthroat advertising industry in the 1960s. According to critics, women were the stars of the show as they were able to transform and adapt, while the male characters could not. This is a quality that is also required today in order to progress. Ansonette Potgieter, independent sales consultant exclusively contracting to Novus Print, a division of Novus Holdings, just like the female characters in Mad Men, had to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to prove…

World Literacy Day, observed on 08 September annually, aims to raise awareness globally on the issues surrounding literacy. Across the world an astounding 774 million adults (15 years and older) still cannot read or write, according to the United Nations. Looking at the situation in South Africa; it is well regarded that the country is facing a literacy crisis, with much of the crisis happening at school level. Statistics released by the University of Pretoria show that eight out of 10 Grade 4 pupils still cannot read at an appropriate…

A leading school in Sydney, Australia, recently decided to swap digital textbooks for the hard copy version, citing better learner comprehension and reduced distraction as reasons for doing so. Australia’s Reddam House primary and junior high school classes have used e-textbooks on iPads, but the consistent feedback from the students was that they preferred pages to screens, resulting in the swap. The school will be phasing out iPads in favour of laptop learning to supplement with textbooks. “Where the school went wrong was to abolish the book in favour of…