You know that elections are approaching when employment in the public service soars. This form of corrupt practice is endemic in the local political system, which seems unable to rid itself of the politics of patronage.

It is very revealing that the priorities that the country needs to address in the next five years are better defined by the employers’ lobby than by the government. Short-term electoral priorities are again taking precedence over longer-term objectives to the detriment of people’s well-being.

The Malta Employers Association (MEA) has warned the government to stop hiring private-sector workers in the months before the next election. Employers fret about the shortage of productive staff in the private sector, partly caused by a surge in public service recruitment for often underproductive jobs.

The MEA rightly argues there are productive jobs available in public transport, tourism, construction, care working and enforcement structures. Yet, the government continues to employ mainly low-skilled workers in under-productive roles rather than encourage employers to train them for productive jobs in private industry.

The MEA also makes a sensible recommendation to the government, which should have come from the education authorities. The country needs more students to follow a STEM curriculum by studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Only with better-qualified local workers can economic growth be sustainable in the long term. The solution adopted in the last few years is to fill the skills gap created by an under-performing education system with imported labour. The Dubai economic model is not what the country needs.

If the country is to regain the reputation it once enjoyed as a forward-looking country that builds its future on the skills and diligence of its people, it has to nurture the adoption of traditional Maltese values.

If the country is to regain the reputation it once enjoyed as a forward-looking country that builds its future on the skills and diligence of its people, it has to nurture the adoption of traditional Maltese values. Recent revelations confirm how ministers often pander to the unreasonable expectations of a section of the electorate.

Rather than eradicating the various forms of political patronage, the government often uses them to curry favour with some voters to guarantee electoral success. The country faces formidable challenges in the next five years and beyond. Getting off the FATF greylist, dealing with the uncertainties of COVID-19, infrastructural bottlenecks, a dated education system, labour shortages and fast deteriorating fiscal indicators are just some of the issues the government needs to show how it intends to address.

Instead, it promises more of the same with no indication of updating the economic model built on assumptions that are increasingly proving unsustainable.

Employers have their fingers on the pulse of the economy. They are more credible in what they propose for the long-term health of the economy than the government and the spin doctors that it employs to foster a false feel-good factor.

The workplace is changing fast, not just because of the impact of COVID-19 but because of the changing dynamics of international trade. With its open economy, Malta must not ignore these trends. As rightly pointed out by the MEA, it should encourage talent development for the common good.

One can only hope that, in a few weeks, the budget speech will mark a radical departure from the usual politics of patronage and usher in a new era of statesmanship by defining the hard work that needs to be done. With months to go to the election we are not holding our breath.

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