Due to the COVID epidemic, millions of people in the EU lost their jobs or suffered significant financial losses.

A large number of employees had to move to new employment in a different economic sector and pick up new skills. More workers were required to upskill if they wanted to keep their jobs in a new workplace. Young people faced a variety of challenges when entering the labour force in EU countries.

Malta, on the other hand, achieved very strong outcomes in terms of unemployment levels despite still being impacted by the pandemic. Over the last 10 years, Malta’s growing economy has drastically reduced the nation’s total unemployment rate. From the 6.1% unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2013, we now enjoy a 2.8% rate.

Compared to the 174,174 people employed in the first quarter of 2013, there were 291,756 people in employment in 2023. In 2023, women make up 123,748 of the total number of employed people. Compared to the 35% female employment participation rate in 2013, this is equivalent to 56%.

These numbers demonstrate that hard work pays off. We are reaping the benefits owing to the seeds planted for the current economic model, which have produced a 68% rise in job opportunities taken, or 117,582 new jobs. The government’s initiatives, such as the free childcare centres, the tapering system and the in-work benefits, attracted more women to participate in our economy.

As I mentioned earlier, we are talking about job possibilities, since the economy is creating more of them, but our nation does not yet have the human resources required to satisfy the growing demand in the different booming economic areas.

Having said that, Malta may continue to try to entice more inactive people to work. There are a lot of inactive people who, if recruited and given the necessary training, could not only fill the ongoing need for workers but also lessen our reliance on foreign employees.

The next step in our economy, according to our government, is to transition to an environmentally friendly and digi­tal economy. This will result in a higher value-added economy and more high-quality jobs for our workforce.

Recently, it was announced that the country’s economic growth is four times the average for all of Europe. It is predicted that new business ventures will produce a more qualitatively focused economy, which is embracing new transitions in the environment and the digital economy sector.

Creating greener, more sustainable economies is a game changer for all EU labour markets, including Malta’s. It offers opportunities for better jobs but it is also a problem that can see change in our current employment skill requirements. It is essential that our citizens have the appropriate skills to take advantage of these opportunities.

The move towards greener technologies has coincided with advancements in automation and digitalisation. The need for a skilled workforce to enable the transition to a greener and more technological economy is highlighted by the European Year of Skills.

Malta attained a fantastic outcome in graduate employment- Jesmond Bonello

It was recently confirmed that Malta attained a fantastic outcome in graduate employment. According to Eurostat, 91% of graduates between the ages of 20 and 34 were employed in 2022. Malta ranked fourth in the EU for new graduates’ employment rates last year, according to Eurostat data, significantly higher than the European average.

There is little doubt that the consistency of our educational institutions is what led to these results. But, in terms of job availability, education on its own is useless. It takes both a high level of education and a healthy economy, which allows for higher levels of employment demand, to produce the success story that this Eurostat survey is documenting.

The new transition to more qualitative sectors will not only give opportunities to employees with academic qualifications from universities and colleges. It also provides an opportunity to employees who have gained knowledge in informal settings, including the workplace or in free time, by upskilling their skills to match the needs of the new scenario.

The economic transition to the environment and digital sectors will provide further new opportunities and our society must direct and empower our employees to acquire all the skills needed to enter these sectors.

The acceleration of upskilling and reskilling so that individuals have the skills to flourish in more digital and environmentally friendly occupations is a significant task for the upcoming years. To achieve better results, we need an efficient validation system and to anticipate what will be the change in skills required by our workforce.

The mismatch between skills and appropriate jobs will always be a worry in the work situation. Unfortunately, Malta is experiencing skill gaps and mismatches, just like other EU countries, which are typically resolved in the short term by importing foreign labour.

Such an imbalance may develop not only because of new economic areas but also because of the ongoing changes in the demands of our current economic sectors. To effectively invest in the training and retraining of our human resources, we must also have a framework in place for anticipating skills needs.

The National Skills Council was recently founded in Malta and it has the responsibility of keeping track of changes in the skills required by the various economic sectors and foreseeing future demands. According to the EU, the employment sector will be impacted by rapid technological advancement, the likelihood of climate change and demographic changes.

The council, without a doubt, plays a crucial part in ensuring that Malta is better equipped to deal with the realities of the modern labour market. It has the capacity to contribute to the country’s social and economic deve­lopment, providing consistent and improved outcomes in terms of new employment prospects.

Jesmond Bonello is former president of the UĦM Voice of the Workers.