Only 16% of ex-shipyard workers still looking for work

Just 16 per cent of former shipyard workers who opted for early retirement schemes are still registering for work, The Sunday Times has learnt.

A total of 361 workers have decided not to register for work, the majority of whom were workers close to retirement age, a tracer study carried out by the Employment and Training Corporation has found.

Nearly half of those still looking for a job are in the 50 to 56 age bracket.

The majority of those who applied for the schemes, 907, have found a job elsewhere. Nearly 300 of them have found alternative employment in the manufacture of transport equipment.

A year ago, the government and the General Workers' Union reached a €58 million agreement over early retirement schemes for shipyard employees.

The government set the privatisation process in motion in June 2008 since it had to comply with an EU deadline to withdraw state aid by the end of the year.

At the same time, the government launched early retirement schemes in an effort to reduce the 1,627-strong workforce to around 700.

With future prospects at the yard looking bleak, 59 opted not to apply for early retirement. Today there are just 49 workers on the shipyards' books, though a number of others remained at the yard for several months to help complete pending contracts.

The government had issued an international call for expressions of interest in Malta Shipyards in August last year. The offer was due to close on September 15 but was eventually extended to the beginning of this year.

The company was split into four separate units for privatisation purposes, but the government had deemed the offers received for the ship repair facility too low. Earlier this year, talks with two preferred bidders started separately for the Marsa shipbuilding site and the yacht yard at Manoel Island.

Though the company's privatisation process appears to have stalled, Malta Shipyards reported a turnover of €8.7 million in the past year. Since September last year, no less than 76 ships were serviced at the Cospicua ship repair facility.

hgrech@timesofmalta.com