About half of foreign workers leave within three years – study
A correlation was found between the type of work done and length of stay
Around half of foreign workers in Malta leave the country within three years, a Central Bank study has found.
The numbers start to fall within the first three months of employment, by which time 10% of foreign workers have already left the country, with the figure climbing to 19% within six months.
By the first year of employment, nearly one-third of foreign workers have left Malta.
Only a minority remain in the country beyond six years.
Although third-country nationals (TCNs) generally remain longer than European Union nationals, both groups display high turnover rates, the study says.
EU citizens benefit from freedom of movement, making short stays and onward migration less costly.
By contrast, TCNs face stricter entry and residence requirements, yet even among this group, retention is low, the study notes, with approximately a quarter leaving within their first year.
A considerable share of TCNs leaving Malta move on to other EU countries, with the study saying this supports the view that some of these workers may use Malta as a stepping-stone to the wider European labour market.
Inflows of foreign workers have risen notably, from just under 10,000 in 2012 to a peak of approximately 42,000 in 2023. The number of foreigners leaving the country has also increased substantially, from around 5,900 in 2012 to a peak of 23,400 in 2024.
The study says these trends suggest that although Malta has experienced strong net migration and a resulting expansion of its foreign population, this population remains highly transient.
This high turnover, the study continues, means foreign workers often leave before the local skills and experience they acquire can be fully translated into productivity gains for companies or the economy at large.
A correlation was found between the type of work done and length of stay.
Managers tend to remain the longest, while clerical and service workers typically have the shortest stays.
Sectoral patterns also emerge from the study, with foreign workers in health, education and administrative support exhibiting longer tenures, while those in hospitality, entertainment and manufacturing tending to leave much earlier.
Company size appears to matter as well, as micro-enterprises retain workers for significantly longer periods than large companies.
The study says that while Malta remains one of the most attractive destinations for foreign workers in the EU, its long-term success will depend not only on attracting workers but on embedding them into a more stable and productive labour force.
Achieving this will require not just administrative reforms but also a broader approach that addresses social integration, housing affordability and opportunities for career progression.
The study describes the government’s recent labour migration policy efforts as a “turning point” in this regard.
This policy identifies retention of foreign workers as its foremost guiding principle and sets out a series of reforms designed to lengthen their average stay.
These include longer renewal periods for residence and work permits, differentiated fees that lower the cost of renewals relative to first-time applications, restrictions on employers with excessively high turnover, and incentives for training and direct recruitment.
The study says the policy’s effectiveness will hinge on implementation, monitoring and the ability to adapt as labour market conditions evolve.