Economic policymakers know that if the country is to achieve its socio-economic ambitions, there is a formula it needs to follow: to produce higher value-added, higher quality goods and services that can yield higher wages and profits. Economic strategies cannot be stored in a silo distinct from other essential activities in training, education and the world of work.

This means the survey about to be undertaken by the National Statistics Office of 130,000 people of working age, to better understand the skills of Malta’s workforce, is a crucial initiative.

It will serve as a first step in defining new employment, education and economic policies.

As explained by NSO director general Etienne Caruana, the survey will present a picture of the skills and qualifications in possession of our working age population and, in so doing, provide an indication of the skills gaps that exist “and how we can address them in the near future”.

In recent years, Malta’s fast-growing economy has revealed some structural challenges that must be addressed to make growth and social equity more achievable in the longer term. One undeniable challenge is a skills mismatch in important sectors of the economy. In the short term, this has been addressed by importing substantial skilled labour from other EU or third countries.

Reforms in our education system should be directed towards finding a longer-term solution: to encourage more students to follow courses that lead to better-paid careers in the present economic context. We need to avoid the risk of having skills shortages in some areas and simultaneously a surplus of workers with skills that are not in demand, contributing to underemployment or even unemployment. 

This survey should also help gauge the effectiveness of the social partners’ involvement in bettering workers’ skills by providing relevant and appropriate training opportunities.

The International Labour Organisation rightly points out the reasons behind some countries’ growing skills gap. The ILO finds that “weak quality assurance, too few or poorly qualified trainers, poor working conditions for trainers and outdated qualifications, curricula, training materials and methods all inhibit the quality of training”.

Changes may be needed in the way that students are compensated financially for completing their tertiary education studies. Some in education and business rightly argue that the present egalitarian stipends system may not encourage enough of the capable students to follow the more rigorous, but more economically useful, courses in science, technology and engineering and they opt instead for softer qualifications.

This survey will have achieved its aim if it helps to develop a national skills development policy. This policy’s success will depend on stakeholders’ commitment to making institutional arrangements that provide clear leadership and responsibility for critical elements of the system that will close the skills gap.

Skills development will always be about the shared responsibility of government, employers and individual workers, with social partners playing a critical role. A commitment to lifelong learning will be an integral part of the action plan that should follow the conclusion of this survey.

One of the aims when closing the skills gap should also be social equity. Equal opportunities for education and training must be provided for all, including those engaged in the informal economy, such as adult immigrants and their children.

This is not the first skills gap survey organised in recent years. Still, it is a most timely initiative that will hopefully lead to more determined action to lay the foundations of better planning and coordination between the diverse human activities that drive the progress of our society.