The National Statistics Office (NSO) will be surveying 130,000 people of working age to better understand the skills of Malta's workforce. 

Those surveyed will be aged between 15 and 64 years and living in private households. They have been randomly selected to participate in the Malta Skills Survey, which is the first national exercise of its kind. 

Foreign nationals who have been living in Malta for the past five years are also eligible for the survey. 

The nationwide study will be held between October and December of this year, and as of last Monday, individuals have started to receive letters informing them that they have been chosen to participate.

The letter also includes information on the survey and log-in details to access the website questionnaire. 

The Malta Skills Survey will shed light on the skills profile of Malta’s workforce and its data is intended to provide a strong picture of any existing skills gaps in the national labour force. 

Its results will inform the country's new employment policy, launched one year ago and which listed such a skills survey as the first step in reimagining Malta's working future. 

The nationwide study was announced during a press conference by NSO director general Etienne Caruana, alongside Finance and Employment Minister Clyde Caruana on Wednesday. 

Who are the participants?

The sample is made up of 64,565 males and 65,435 females. A total of 103,062 are Maltese nationals, while 26,938 are foreign nationals. 

Respondents can complete the questionnaire online or by telephone. From October 10, 2022 onwards, NSO interviewers shall be contacting respondents who have not yet submitted the survey and can complete the survey via a telephone call. 

Respondents can request to have a paper-based questionnaire sent to them.

NSO director general Etienne Caruana during the launch of Malta Skills Survey on Wednesday. Photo: Jonathan Borg

NSO director general Caruana said a team of 450 NSO interviewers will be carrying out the telephone interviews. A freephone helpline, 1712, has also been set up for any enquires on the questionnaire. 

He said the data which will come from the survey will be “extremely useful”. 

“Apart from giving us a picture of skills and qualifications our working age population has, it also gives us an indication of the skills gap we have, and how we can address them in the near future,” he said. 

He said it will also shed light on the different characteristics of workers based on age, sex, education, and skills. 

‘Questionnaire similar to filing out CV’

Explaining the format of the survey, NSO director of Social Statistics Matthew Zerafa said the survey is similar to filling out a curriculum vitae (CV). 

“The survey will also ask for the person’s personal details, work experience, education, skills, and language skills,” Zerafa said. 

The survey will seek to find out the respondents’ work status and basic information about their recent three jobs, along with educational background, including the level of education and any qualifications. 

Respondents have a number of skills options to pick from in the survey. Photo: NSO

In the skills section, the questionnaire will ask numerous questions relating to artistic and creative skills, construction, assistance and care, communication, and computer skills. 

“This section will give us an understanding of the skills the respondent has with their qualifications and work status,” Zerafa said. 

Preliminary results of the survey are expected by the first quarter of 2023, with the NSO expecting to be in a position to publish the final results and detailed analysis by the end of that year. 

Finance and Employment Minister Clyde Caruana. Photo: Jonathan Borg

‘We need to change our economic development plan’

Addressing the press conference, Finance and Employment minister Clyde Caruana said the survey is the first step toward changing the island’s economic development plan. 

“This survey is the first step forward for our government to understand what our workforce has and what it lacks, and then we can improve the situation in the right manner,” he told Times of Malta. 

“Our policy framework in the past ten years has been significant as we have seen a significant economic growth," he said.

“But now we need to ensure that there is a shift in our economic development plan, as we cannot continue going on in this way.  We cannot pretend that this country can continue following the same plan as it did in the past ten years, otherwise, we will see an increase in traffic jams and more empty hotel rooms.”

He said the economic development plan must focus not only on the money people have in their pockets but their quality of life.