Country needs 77,000 more workers

More than 77,000 people would need to enter the labour force in the next decade if Malta is to reach its EU-set target of having 70 per cent of the adult population working, a report points out.

The Skills For The Future report notes that the seven job areas identified by the government, to turn Malta into a centre of excellence by 2015, have the potential of generating about 30,000 jobs - falling short by over 50 per cent.

The government-identified areas include the tourist sector, financial services, health, education, communication and IT, manufacturing and Gozo as an ecological island.

Yet the report, launched yesterday by the National Commission for Higher Education, forecasts qualifications and skills gaps in Malta in comparison with EU countries. It recommends more research be carried out to identify these gaps.

According to the report, in the next 10 years 37,000 jobs will be made vacant by retiring workers. Additionally, 40,000 jobs will be needed to increase the activity rate of people at work from 59 per cent to 70 per cent and reach the Lisbon target for 2010.

This means that, in total, over 77,000 people will have to join the workforce if Malta is to have an efficient labour market.

"Creating more jobs and increasing activity in the labour market derives from the need to sustain increasing social costs, such as the ageing population, lower birth rates and increasing competition. This creates the need to spread the future burden on a broader share of the working age population," the report says.

This implies that, for female participation rates to reach 41 per cent (another Lisbon target) over 16,000 women will have to start working.

The employment rate of 55- to 64-year-olds will have to increase by 3,400 workers to reach 35 per cent.

Moving to education, the report explains that participation rates in different fields of study and at different levels of education define the potential of Malta's future workforce. The EU-commissioned report - Future Skills Needs in Europe - forecasts the necessary distribution of qualifications the EU will need in 2015.

According to this forecast, the EU labour market will require 20.8 per cent low qualifications (until lower secondary level), 49.9 per cent medium (until post-secondary, non-tertiary) and 29.3 per cent high (tertiary level).

However, in 2007, 75 per cent of Malta's working age population had low qualifications putting the country at a competitive disadvantage.

The NCHE report shows that for Malta to reach the competitive labour force qualification distribution by 2015 it would require 55,000 more high qualified workers and 99,000 more with medium qualifications. The rate of low qualified workers will have to drop by about 77,000.

The government's targets outlined in the National Reform Programme aim to have 85 per cent of students entering post secondary and 35 per cent pursuing tertiary education in 2015. According to the report, these targets would only produce 21,000 workers with high education levels and 35,000 with medium levels.

In view of these shortfalls, the report recommends more research be carried out to anticipate skills gaps and that they be addressed; that more synergy is needed between education, business and government agencies; that guidance services should be professionalised in schools and in other education institutions; and that a more responsive education sector is developed.

The report's findings will be considered in the formulation of the Strategy on Further and Higher Education 2020 to be launched in April.

The full report can be viewed on www.nche.gov.mt.