The 2009 global economic climate presented numerous challenges for the South African labour market, with several sectors shedding thousands of jobs further straining the already vulnerable groups. Both the private household and agriculture sectors shed 38 000 and 31 000 respectively during the fourth quota of 2009. This trend continued well into 2010 as employment continued to decrease the formal non-agricultural business sectors in 2009 and 2010, as 79 000 people lost their jobs between December 2009 and March 2010. As can be expected, during such periods, much pressure is on government's Active Labour Market Programmes established to deal with unemployment through skills training and placement programmes. Consequently the Department of Labour's resources and its entities have been under pressure during this period in order to either assist people seeking new work opportunities and those in the process of being retrenched. The role of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) were also prominent during this period. As such, this demand on the entities' resources has raised issues of their financial capacity to meet these demands.