Self-employed couriers left jobless by a change in policy at Bolt are being offered a chance to become full-time bus drivers instead.
Malta Public Transport said on Saturday that it would be happy to train and employ couriers looking for a career change “following recent developments.”
Those “developments” refer to a sudden decision by courier company Bolt to get rid of all its self-employed couriers and instead refocus all its workforce on couriers employed through recruitment agencies.
Self-employed drivers working with Bolt were sent an email this week informing them that their jobs would be terminated in 30 days’ time. The change mostly impacts Maltese and EU nationals who worked as couriers for the company.
The Estonian-based Bolt provided no explanation for the decision, saying only that it was due to “business reasons”.
The EU is currently negotiating a new EU-wide law that would require companies like Bolt to treat contract workers like employees, guaranteeing them fair salaries and working conditions. Malta is also in the advanced stages of introducing its own law along similar lines.
Self-employed couriers told Times of Malta that Bolt’s announcement came out of the blue and had left them scrambling to find alternative sources of income.
MPT has now offered such workers another option.
“The company already employs a number of bus drivers who were previously employed as motorbike couriers,” it said, saying it welcomed applications from self-employed couriers with a valid car driving licence.
The public transport operator has struggled to find enough drivers to operate its fleet, and has resorted to foreign recruitment agencies to supply it with drivers from the UK. MPT is paying through the nose for those drivers, who earn upwards of three times as much as drivers hired directly by the company.
Successful applicants will undergo a paid eight-week training course before they take a bus driving test and transition to becoming a bus driver.
“A newly recruited driver’s salary including performance bonus and allowances starts at €19,500,” the company said, adding that “with other incentives and benefits, bus drivers’ potential income is over €26,000 per year.”