The average Maltese working week is four hours shorter today than it was 15 years ago, according to the head of the Employment and Training Corporation.

Giving a snapshot of the labour force, ETC head Clyde Caruana said employees were working an average of 37 hours every week, a drop from the 41 hours registered back in 2000.

He was speaking during a conference organised as part of the Malta Employers ‘Association 50th anniversary.

Dr Caruana said workers were also becoming more specialised.

Workers were not only working fewer hours, they were reaching higher positions.

Dr Caruana said the number of employees reaching managerial level had increased from 27 per cent in 2000 to nearly 40 per cent last year.

The number of employees with only an elementary level of education went down from a third of the workforce to less than a quarter. And, the number of employees with a university degree shot up from less than a 10th to a quarter of the workforce.

However, Dr Caruana said, not everything was rosy. The number of people experiencing in-work poverty (working full time but not making ends meet) had actually increased from four to nearly six per cent.

The workforce was also becoming more cosmopolitan. Dr Caruana said that, while 98 per cent of workers were Maltese back in 2000, the figure had dropped to 89 per cent last year.

EU nationals went from making up less than one per cent to seven per cent of the workforce and third country nationals tripled from one to three per cent.

The workforce was also getting older. Dr Caruana said the average age had gone up from 36 to 39.

However, the aging process was slowing down. Dr Caruana said this was happening mostly because of foreign workers who were, on average, younger than their Maltese counterparts.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo also addressed yesterday’s conference, weighing in on recent findings that a quarter of last year’s fifth formers were “doing nothing”.

“I know it sounds strange coming from an Education Minister, but I would rather these youths were working illegally than sitting around the house doing nothing,” he said.

Mr Bartolo said the government was facing a major challenge motivating these youths and feared that it was already too late for many.

“It’s hard enough getting these disenfranchised 15-year-olds out of the house, just imagine a 23-year-old who has been out of training and work for several years. It is so difficult to resurrect these youths,” he said.

He was referring to a study conducted by the ministry which also found that only half of last year’s fifth formers had achieved the minimum requirements to continue studying past their O levels.

The minister said the government was looking to change its approach by tailoring new training courses to the specific needs of these people.

However, the government’s projections indicated that around 35 per cent of jobs could require high qualifications in the coming years, he said.