The public sector continues to absorb the majority of Maltese talent, forcing the private sector to turn to foreigners, according to Malta Employers Association director general Joseph Farrugia. 

His comments come in the wake of a report on Friday that showed a quarter of Malta’s workforce are foreign nationals and that the number of non-Maltese workers has shot up from 9,500 in 2009 to nearly 78,000 by end 2021. 

When contacted, Farrugia said the biggest concern remains the fact that the public sector continues to absorb Maltese talent. This forced companies to turn to foreign workers. 

Farrugia dismissed the belief that employers tend to turn to foreigners for cheap labour, insisting this is not always the case. 

“It’s not always easy employing foreign workers. There is an issue with turnover, for instance. Many don’t stay for long and only stay for around two years. This means employers cannot really invest in them,” he said. 

Asked whether it was worrying that the island’s labour force relies so much on non-Maltese workers, Farrugia said this has been an issue for years and the problem became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The problem with having so many foreign workers is the risk of an event beyond anyone’s control happening that would result in an exodus of people. We’ve already seen it with COVID… people left, and employers are still struggling to fill posts,” Farrugia said. 

The government has for years pushed its policy of importing non-Maltese nationals to address gaps in the local labour supply. 

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has in the past pointed to falling fertility rates in Malta, resulting in fewer youngsters entering the workforce, as the reason behind the government’s decision to retaining its policy of facilitating the entry of foreign workers.

While serving as head of JobsPlus, the state employment agency, Caruana had pushed the government’s policy of bringing in thousands of foreign workers.