Paperwork to employ third country nationals should take no more than a month to process, the Malta Employers' Association said today.

The MEA said that current processes were too bureaucratic and were hindering employers from accessing the human resources they needed to flourish. 

It noted that third country nationals had skyrocketed as a percentage of the workforce, from around 5 per cent a decade ago to approximately 13 per cent today.  

The MEA's call to reduce the processing time of paperwork related to the hiring of third country nationals to an average of four weeks formed part of a broader position paper which included several other suggestions. 

Among these was a suggestion to remove the duplication of work when applying for visa extensions, to establish a one stop shop for processing of work permits, and to simplify the labour market test to employ foreigners. 

It remained unimpressed by Identity Malta, saying that although the entity projected itself as being a one-stop shop for employing foreigners, "the experience of many companies shows otherwise." 

The MEA said it backed the government's proposal to set up job brokerage offices for migrant workers, saying this would provide "decent, regulated work" for such people.