A number of investors having factories in Malta have warned the government they could leave if they do not find sufficient workers here, Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo told parliament this evening.
He was speaking as parliament debated the financial estimates of the Employment and Training Corporation.
The minister said the number of gainfully occupied was at an all-time high and unemployment was falling, reflecting an economy which was growing at 5%.
He said the government was successfully taking measures to grow the labour force, including the free childcare service which had enabled many women to go out to work.
He said the government had also been very successful in encouraging more workers to follow training courses. The Youth Guarantee Scheme, which had been ridiculed by some, meant that youth unemployment was now the lowest in the EU after Germany.
However efforts would continue to narrow the skills deficits by introducing more courses for workers.
Mr Bartolo said that the government was also giving importance to reintegrating people with disabilities in society. It was also likewise helping to rehabilitate former prisoners and encouraging employers to engage them.
Nationalist MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, shadow minister on employment, drew attention to the Caritas report on the minimum wage and said measures were needed to address the problems of the lowest strata of society.
He said that while one solution could be a raise in the minimum wage, many of the social partners disagreed. Clearly, raising the minimum wage was an option, but it was one of several. One should consider other measures such as improving social benefits targeted at this particular strata.
As The Sunday Times of Malta had observed: "Raising the minimum wage is one option. But it is by no means the only one. It has been suggested, for example, that assistance could take the form of a monthly bonus shared equally between employers and the government. Such a formula would eliminate the need for increased national insurance contributions, thus excluding an additional financial burden on the private sector.
Social justice must be considered on on par with the country’s competitiveness when a decision is finally taken by the government on how best to tackle the economic marginalisation of a section of Maltese society. Boasting of a well-performing economy sounds hollow to those citizens who don’t benefit from it."
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said he therefore agreed with the President's call for further and well informed debate on this issue.
The Nationalist MP expressed concern over the growing number of workers having part-time jobs and asked whether this was indicative that salaries in full-time jobs were too low.
He said a proper analysis was also needed of the sort of work being offered to women. It was not enough to raise the number of women returning to work, he said. The majority of women who had returned to work last time were in part-time occupations, he observed.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the government needed to be more specific on which occupations could be occupied by third-country nationals (workers who are not Maltese or from the EU). Should the market regulate itself or should the state be involved in certain sectors, particularly to prevent injustice and exploitation? Ultimately, he said, responsibility rested on the state.