The quest for fast economic growth has been the driving force behind the liberalised labour market policies of the last two decades. Gross domestic product has indeed been impressive.

However, our business and political leaders rarely discuss what the cost of this policy might be to the long-term well-being of society.

There seems to be little appetite to rethink the current economic strategies to ensure that the added value to be accrued by society in the coming years is both sustainable and fairer for all.

JobsPlus, the local employment agency that implements the government’s labour market strategies, has published statistics showing that the number of foreign workers in Malta shot up from 9,500 in 2009 to 67,000 in 2019 and to nearly 78,000 by the end of last year. Foreign workers make up more than a quarter of Malta’s labour market and closer to a third of the labour force in the private sector.

There is agreement among the business lobby and policymakers that liberal labour market policies, which make it relatively easy to import both high-skilled and low-skilled foreign labour, are necessary in order to sustain Malta’s economic growth. Few in the business community or government believe there are alternatives. But neither do they perceive that overdependence on imported labour comes at a social and economic cost for the community.

Some realities must be acknowledged. Birth rates in Malta, as in all EU countries, are falling. Fewer young people are joining the workforce as many early and late baby boomers retire. And the economy is not creating outstanding employment opportunities for locals that want to remain economically active.

The director-general of the Malta Employers Association, Joseph Farrugia, blames the government for the private sector’s dependence on imported labour. His main concern is that the public sector continues to absorb Maltese talent.

He had previously criticised the government for committing itself to redeploying redundant high-paid Air Malta employees to the public sector. This has created more unnecessary burdens on taxpayers and deprived the private sector of a pool of potential employees.

Still, many in the private sector fail to acknowledge that companies often employ low-cost labour simply to maximise profits. This often leads to the exploitation of low-skilled third-country nationals. It also increases inflationary pressures on the property market. On a broader level, the growth-at-all-cost strategies of the last two decades are among the main drivers of Malta’s seemingly irreversible environmental deterioration.

The public sector is also partly to blame for encouraging low-cost strategies in the management of human resources in essential public services. While stories of overpaid political appointees to high roles in the public sector frequently hit the headlines, we rarely hear about the brain drain of local professional paramedics who leave the country because their employer prefers to employ third-world paramedics rather than improve the working conditions of staff.

Some current labour practices were set in stone decades ago when the current socio-economic challenges were still not very pronounced. Too many older adults who want to remain economically active are prevented from doing so by ingrained ageist stereotypes that drive labour management decisions. Policymakers and business leaders need to be creative in finding new ways of attracting older adults to continue working to improve their financial resilience and social well-being.

At the same time, educational reform remains a low priority, as vacancies in the more highly skilled positions are readily filled by young people from abroad.

While imported labour is an economic necessity, reducing our overdependence on it would embed more sustainability and fairness in our community.