Malta Enterprise has naturally developed into an entity that fosters equality, provides flexibility and offers career development opportunities irrespective of gender.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, Times of Malta sat down with Antoinette Cefai, Manager External Communications at Malta Enterprise where we explored what it means to work at Malta Enterprise – with a special focus on the equality scenario within Government's business arm.

“We might not single it out much but a quick analysis of the gender representation within our workforce shows how Malta’s economic development agency has a workforce that is 45 per cent female. This is the product of a combination of factors throughout the years, which have attracted to Malta Enterprise a very strong mix of valid professionals, irrelevant of their gender,” explained Cefai as we set out to discuss the issue at hand. 

She also explained how this is replicated at Board of Directors level, with 50 per cent of board members being female industrialists or entrepreneurs. 

“Many of them have been involved in the economic scene for a number of years - their contribution is paramount to the proper functioning of the Board.”

Cefai went on to explain that while the Corporation is still to have its first female CEO or chairman, today almost half of the upper tier of the structure (45 per cent) is made up of females with various years of service. Not to mention at least two whole departments which are composed and run solely by women.

“Many such employees have been at Malta Enterprise since its establishment in 2004. That is 17 years of service, but not only; most had also been part of the earlier iterations of the Corporation; MDC, METCO and IPSE which all together make more than 50 years of generating jobs and consolidating the economy.”

Malta Enterprise has its workforce spread over various locations including the main headquarters in Pieta`, the Life Sciences Park in San Ġwann, the Kordin Business Incubation Centre (KBIC) and Business 1st in Mrieħel and in Gozo. 

She also explained how Malta Enterprise is also very proud of the fact that 60 per cent of the female workforce within the corporation have moved up the ladder by being promoted to more senior roles throughout their years at the corporation. 

“The corporation has always attracted very talented individuals that while contributing directly to the needs of the organisation at different junctures, have personally benefitted from the experiences provided to them by the dynamic and challenging work atmosphere.”

Furthermore 32 per cent of the female workforce have obtained a Master’s level of education in various respective fields with ME always supporting fully along the way. These studies are mutually beneficial as the Corporation deals with a number of specialised sectors including pharmaceutical and life sciences sector, added value manufacturing, international educational services, digital innovation and aviation. Thus more specialised expertise in-house does indeed help in the corporation’s complex endeavours. Most of the female employees have strategic roles that require particular specialised skill-sets such as scientific and technical backgrounds, accounts and financing, statistics and research.

Cefai went on to explain how a career at Malta Enterprise provides for significant experiences – such as having a direct input in addressing major economic episodes like COVID-19 (Malta Enterprise indeed received overall approval in its administering of the wage supplement) but may also include shaping economic niches which bolster job creation or representing Malta in an international context.  Touching onto flexibility at the workplace, even prior to the COVID pandemic – a number of employees at Malta Enterprise have already been benefiting from various family friendly measures that have provided the needed balance for their particular situations.

“While our internal People and Culture Unit strives to always foster equality at the workplace we are proud to say that many a time this is not the main preoccupation in our corridors as the majority of staff feel that it’s their capabilities and not their gender that indeed conditions their role within our organisation. This makes Malta Enterprise a good choice for any professional, including females, that are looking for an empowering and enabling place of work,” concluded Cefai.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.