An initiative launched by the Chamber of SMEs for companies to foster workers from those from firms which were feeling the pinch has gained momentum, EU Affairs and Communications Executive Fabian Demicoli told Times of Malta on Wednesday.
He said the idea was launched after the chamber was receiving calls for information from both those companies which needed to find ways of shedding labour costs, and others which needed to beef up their workforce due to the increase in demand in the service they were offering.
“We have businesses calling us with requests for help and information regarding employees who are at a standstill and others who are telling us they cannot cope with the increase in demand. So we came up with this idea of sharing employees. There are also companies which have ceased operations and have equipment such as trucks and delivery vans which they are also putting at the disposal of other companies which are finding it difficult to cope,” Demicoli said.
He said businesses in the services industry, particularly supermarkets and retailers, were finding it difficult to deal with the increase in demand for home deliveries at a time when most people are home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Demicoli said the chamber sent out an electronic mailshot to its members late on Tuesday and the initiative seems to have been well-received. “The response is very good. We are helping companies with employment problems and we are finding alternatives for those companies which do not want to lay off their workers. So this initiative is a win-win,” he said.
He said the companies could enter into discussions about sharing the wage costs.
He explained that the Malta Chamber of SMEs was simply matching newly laid-off employees and those whose job was hanging on a string to available jobs and employers.
“We ask you to, where possible, hang in there and support your employees a while longer as the government is promising that the real measures we are asking for are not far away,” the chamber told its members.