There has been an influx of foreign candidates trying to find jobs in Malta – which is rapidly gaining a reputation as a more accessible London – with good weather thrown in for good measure.

Etienne Gatt, who manages the IT & iGaming team for recruitment agency Konnekt, said candidates see Malta as a cheaper alternative to London, but with a better quality of life.

“It is the only fully English-speaking, multilingual country in the EU. And even though salaries are lower here, when you look at the purchasing power, the better climate and the decent quality of life, Malta comes out ahead – especially for families. And for many of the more laid-back IT people, the island lifestyle complements that character,” he said.

But you often find candidates who want to be at the centre of a new company ­to grow with it, especially companies that open up back office functions in Malta

“Of course, this is not the only factor. We have also seen other economies struggle with high unemployment, so people then tend to look elsewhere.”

Finding placements for foreign candidates is more challenging for a recruitment company, requiring considerably more due diligence, research and reference checks. However, Alison Grech, who is one of three team leaders managing the generalist team, said technology has made a huge difference.

“We can now do an interview by Skype, which is much better than telephone calls as you get much more insight from their facial expressions and body language,” she said.

This is just one of the areas on which the teams were trained during some 100 hours last year, along with industry insights.

“It helps to understand what our clients are looking for when you learn the jargon – and it also helps us to evaluate the candidates’ background,” Ms Grech added.

The rapid growth of the finance and IT industries has led to an increase in demand rather than new skills. Since these industries are relatively young, Malta cannot yet offer enough qualified and experienced people, therefore employers need to source employees from other countries.

Isn’t Malta a very small pond for foreigners? Lara Camilleri, who manages the finance and legal recruitment team, said this is not that much of a deterrent.

“It might be true for some industries. But you often find candidates who want to be at the centre of a new company ­to grow with it, especially companies that open up back office functions in Malta.

“We do struggle at times, to find Maltese candidates for some of these niche areas but they have an advantage in other ways. In legal contexts, for example, it is difficult to have foreign candidates as they are not accustomed to local legislation,” Ms Camilleri said.

Another problem facing Konnekt is that many of their clients’ needs grow in quantum leaps.

“There are many companies in the IT and finance industries – such as corporate service providers and audit firms – that recruit in bulk as when they take on a new client, the workload increase is considerable. It is very difficult to find that number of potential employees

“In fact, auditors are bringing third-country nationals over at the moment as they do not find enough of the right people in either Malta or the EU,” Ms Camilleri added.

The situation is just as tough in Mr Gatt’s sector: “We are building two teams of 50 software developers for our clients. You don’t find those numbers here!”

Recruiting outside the EU is not without its problems. It takes six to seven months to get a third country visa – a delay he believes needs to be reduced if Malta wants to keep its competitiveness.

“I can see why the Maltese government and the EU would want to safeguard jobs within Europe. But on the other hand, we need to also safeguard our own competitiveness,” he lamented.

Recruiting staff is only part of the equation, nowadays, retention being the other. People in Malta tend to change jobs every three to five years.

“There is no such thing as a job for life anymore,” Ms Grech said. “People keep moving until the later part of their careers. Abroad job mobility is even more intense – they change every two to three years.

“Employers’ attitudes are changing too: before they would view an employee who had moved very often with suspicion. Now they not only accept that but consider the employee to have a wider scope of experience.”

This churn represents a tremendous cost for companies but organisations are already learning to keep this in mind, grooming other staff to move into new roles if they fall vacant.

“Clients are becoming much more aware of the dynamism of their workforce and their retention strategy is becoming much smarter. We always advise our clients to invest in retention as much as in recruitment – not only through the compensation package – guided by our in-house salaries and benefits report, Salariesinmalta.com – but also through profit sharing and flexibility. It is now a candidate’s market,” Mr Gatt said.

Clients are becoming much more aware of the dynamism of their workforce and their retention strategy is becoming much smarter

“If they have an issue or grievance, employees in sectors where there is very high demand do not always try to solve it. They just resign and know that within a week they will find another job with another company with a few more thousand euros in their pocket,” Ms Camilleri added.

One retention strategy that is gradually taking root is working off-site – although this is still very much a minority option.

“Maltese companies are definitely more conservative about the place of work – while foreign-owned ones tend to be more open to the idea of working remotely. We had someone working for an IT company from the US and another from Germany. We are also recruiting someone who can work from wherever they want. It is no longer a problem – although the team culture will remain the way to go. Working remotely has its own challenges such as time zone differences and communication barriers,” Mr Gatt added.

Konnekt has some 30,000 candidates on its database and even a cursory check of its website reveals a very different approach.

“We don’t send candidates to jobs just to give them the impression that we are working hard. We do not believe in recommending someone for a job unless they have a chance to succeed.”

Konnekt has other rules that set it apart from some of its peers. The company, which has seen an increase of 33 per cent in traffic on its website year-on-year, does not headhunt for example and has also not hesitated to recommend candidates it is familiar with – even when it does not represent them.

“The secret of our success is our guiding principle: doing what is right. The fact that we seek the interest of the candidates and the companies before our own interests has generated considerable loyalty,” Ms Grech said.

“We are not after short-term wins, but lasting placements.”

The 30-strong team is not paid a commission, but rather gets a performance bonus based on the quality – rather than the quantity – of their placements.

The company’s philosophy also puts emphasis on improving the candidate’s chance of success, whether sprucing up their CVs, diplomatically giving them feedback from the interviews they attend or advising them on salary expectations.

“One of the biggest struggles now that we are growing is to keep that personal touch. It was much easier when we were five or six,” Mr Gatt smiled wistfully.

And the company is growing. It has just increased its footprint by 39 per cent and has just ventured into new territory – literally. A Maltese company set up operations in Hungary and Konnekt filled a vacancy there with a Hungarian

Ms Camilleri was thrilled with the outcome. “It is a real success story as this is an unfamiliar market. It shows that our procedures and best practice could be applied in different markets – even competing against local agencies there!”