As Bhatti et al. (1998) note, organisations today operate in a world that is increasingly deregulated, instantaneous, competitive, data computer rich and Internet connected. This unprecedented rate of change, facing both public and private sectors, produces a major reorientation of structures, systems and management methods. In other words, organisations are being forced to continue their business in conditions of cost constraints, market deregulation and structural changes such as mergers and acquisitions. As a result, human resource planning becomes of vital assistance in deciding which jobs are essential and which will be lost . In a similar vein other writers argue that, in the current highly uncertain socio-economic climate, human resource planning is emerging as a focal human resource activity, as it is increasingly becoming an essential and very prominent boundary spanning function.