2,597 job losses last year

P.Gauci

Mar 4th 2010, 20:48

@G.Pisani

"I know most of you are against it but this is the truth like it or not. Internet is closing our businesses without them there is no where for us to work."

That's the dumbest argument I have ever heard. In today's world the whole world is one big market and unless you're competitive you cannot survive. Why should spend 40euros to buy a DVD from a shop when I could buy it from the internet for half the price and have it delivered home by post?

What are you suggesting? stopping all internet trade? That way we will lose all our i -gaming companies and most of our call centres.

My suggestion to all those complaining about internet trade like Mr. Pisani? Stop trying to rip off your customers or else go into another profession.

G.Pisani

Mar 3rd 2010, 18:43

All those complaining,

Do you buy stuff from abroad and from the internet to save 10euros?

Well done you might have lost someone in Malta his job and gave it to someone abroad!

I know most of you are against it but this is the truth like it or not. Internet is closing our businesses without them there is no where for us to work.

Andrew Cumbo

Mar 3rd 2010, 18:43

@ All
But GonziPN never mentioned job losses. He always said and preached how he is helping the manufacture industries and working sectors to safeguard jobs. How now we have this astonishing figure of 2597? Can someone tell me how this government helped during the recession and now we have all these job losses?
And another thing I remember is it a shame to have a 7000 unemployed today, since once we had a prime minister that made big fuss because we were near this figure. Is it still a shame for him today?

C Cassar

Mar 3rd 2010, 18:19

@ david vella:

Well, taken from this very online newspaper today:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100303/local/tourism-on-the-increase

The only people who find Malta expensive are those from the UK because Sterling (£) is in freefall. However, for example a disgusting Dominos pizza in the UK costs around £10 (€11.50) and in Malta you can get superb authentic pizza for around €7-8, so I don't really know what people are comparing. Currency differentials are not the fault of Malta. There are 300 million people in the Eurozone using the Euro who certainly do not find Malta expensive as I have many friends in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Austria (for example). They find Malta very reasonable. Maybe you should be targeting the Eurozone tourists instead of the old way of concentrating on UK tourists. Malta has moved on from those days and is in the Eurozone. That is the place to do business now and it is a far larger market than the UK and willing to spend more money. Learn some of their languages and business will become much easier. Tourism in Malta needs to change with the times otherwise those that don't will be left behind as is quite evident.

a.dalli

Mar 3rd 2010, 17:36

Very soon we will have to add thoes working in Libya too.

david vella

Mar 3rd 2010, 17:17

The slump in tourism (our main source of income) is showing clearly! As I work in the industry myself, I hear complains from frequent visitors (Malta their 2nd home) pointing out how expensive our island is getting every year! No wonder they seek cheaper resorts and by the way, there are many to choose from! This way it simply gets from bad to worst! Remember, an extra 2,597 who won't (wish them a quick find) contribute financially to society.
So the burden to be shared among the rest! So less income much less outcome (jobs lost).

Joseph Attard

Mar 3rd 2010, 16:42

@RMangion

Regarding the graduates that you refer to, in which areas they did graduate? Sciences? IT? Engineering? Did they ask around about what the market needed before they started the university course?

Joseph

t farrugia

Mar 3rd 2010, 16:19

@ M Gellel - this has got nothing to do with pn or pl, have u been watching any international news for the last yr and a half!!!!???

j. cassar

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:57

It is quite evident that Mr. Gellel does not know the basics of economics and is just firing blank salvos. Many of those that lost their jobs found another job, because the economy created more jobs. The jobless figure did not go up with 2500 and is still one of the lowest in Europe. The 2000 that the govt saved come from the manufacturing industry, which increased their employees, I know what I am taking about because I work in one of these industries, and last year we employed more workers after April 2009 after the stimulus given by the Govt that you are calling antisocial.

RMangion

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:33

I think one needs to look at the salaries and conditions being offered in Malta, with employers focusing on Contract for Service employment as this puts the onus on the employee ( SSC contributions, no bonuses, no leave etc...)

What is worrying is that graduates are not finding jobs in their area of study

RMangion

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:33

I think one needs to look at the salaries and conditions being offered in Malta, with employers focusing on Contract for Service employment as this puts the onus on the employee ( SSC contributions, no bonuses, no leave etc...)

What is worrying is that graduates are not finding jobs in their area of study

C Cassar

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:31

It certainly is not a worrying figure since the whole world in feeling the effect of the recent recession. It hasn't really affected Malta when compared to most other EU countries, so it is very encouraging.

Malta at 7.2% still has a lower percentage of unemployed than the UK (7.8%), Germany (8.6%), Italy (12.4%), Spain (19.3%), France (10%), Greece (9.2%).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate

Therefore, putting things into perspective (which many here are incapable of), the current government have done an excellent job in keeping as many people employed as possible during a global economic slowdown.

If those that disagree can post alternative information via factual links then please do so. Otherwise you just make yourselves look very uneducated (and hence probably unemployable).

M Tabone

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:30

Joblessness and job losses are always problematic but job losses alone give a misleading picture. To move on in life you have to step-down from one job and step into the next. To cultivate, restructure and re-engineer a stagnant or stale industry you need to trim and add. For the economy to progress there’s a stages approach that should be respected, moving from one stage to the next. From labour-intensive to capital-intensive, from the old traditional plants to the high-tech plants, from emphasis on effort and jobs to focus on work and output per resource invested. Throughout the years processes are bound to change and we should continue promoting change, thus change will bring unrest and continuous movement. Gone are the days of job stability and guarantees at the cost of other. Today we talk about generation of income and employment opportunities. No one will stop this pattern and no one should be fast interpreting raw statistics because life much more complex and it will become increasingly more. It’s time to realize that the labour market is a not something simplistic. Some people are still daydream and tend to overlook the fragility and vulnerability of the labour market.

Anthony Briffa

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:28

@ Mario Gellel

If you still remember your arithmetic, if there wasn't the saving of 2,000 jobs, than the figure would have read 4,597. And if you are not sure about the amount of jobs that were saved go and ask the employees of those comapny's which were helped in this difficult hour and are now in the process of expanding. The tag to the financial assistance was to re-invest and re-train their employess and that is what they did - not just put out their hands for subsidies.

Deo Micallef

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:21

Is it true that the according to the Government data sent to the EU the Jobless figure is going to climb to about 14000???

G.Portelli

Mar 3rd 2010, 15:13

@ M. Gellel

If those jobs were not saved the figure would have been much greater. Mr. Gellel do not put the blame on water and electricity bills but on people who want that the country falls into deep problems for personal or party gain like we've seen this week.

laurence schembri

Mar 3rd 2010, 14:58

A worrying figure.

mario gellel

Mar 3rd 2010, 14:55

The truth is comming out., Pn bloggers. Did not someone from the govt and Gonzipn said that the stimulus package saved 2,000 jobs?/ Now we get the news that not 2,000 lost their job last year, but a stunning figure of 2,597.
Beware that with the higher power utility tarrifs, more and more jobs are going to be lost.
SHAME, DESGRACE, UNHEARTED AND UNTISOCIAL PN GOVERMENT.

R Spiteri

Mar 3rd 2010, 14:44

Spain

No end in sight for winding unemployment lines.- Spain’s unemployment rate currently stands at 18.9%, double that of the EU. According to Eurostat figures, young people are suffering the most from the deep recession in Spain, with 39.6% of under 25’s out of work- with the EU average being 20.9%. The Labour Ministry said on Tuesday that the number of jobless claims last month climbed by 82, 312 (2.03%), to 4,130 million.