Two recent business initiatives confirm that job creation remains the top economic priority for Malta as it is for other European Union countries.
The first initiative is the launching of a €1 million start-up fund by consultancy firm PWC Malta in collaboration with Times of Malta and the University. This fund will provide pro bono services that new businesses need to start operating on a sound basis. The preparation of a business plan, for instance, is an indispensable requirement for any new company aiming to borrow money from banks.
Preparing such a plan is not something that one can undertake without following the right methodology that may be quite obscure for new entrepreneurs. Similarly, preparing a proper budget calls for expertise that very often has to be bought from financial consultants.
The active role that Times of Malta and the University will be taking in this venture is also important as most entrepreneurs are often unaware of where help to set up a business can be sourced.
This venture is an innovative one that will go some way to address the challenges that new entrepreneurs face. However, as the University rector rightly says, new enterprises also need seed capital and fiscal incentives.
Such financial support can partly be provided by the Government but private industry also has a role to play in providing venture capital. This may not necessarily be through the setting up of a venture capital fund. Such funds are unlikely to have a sufficiently well-spread risk portfolio to make them economically viable.
But established businesses can still act as ‘guardian angels’ to new entrepreneurs to help them cultivate sound roots that will see them grow into healthy enterprises. Business ‘guardian angels’ can usually provide much-needed seed capital, business advice and practical marketing clout to small businesses in the delicate stage of take off.
The commissioning of a tracer study among 1,570 graduates by the Faculty of Arts is another initiative that helps young people to understand what future job prospects they face when deciding what course to follow at the University.
It is an undeniable fact that one of the main objectives of tertiary education is to improve one’s employability. Many economic commentators believe that we need more graduates in science, information and communications technology as well as in engineering if we are to attract the right kind of investment.
The findings of the Faculty of Arts’ tracer study can be given different interpretations. For instance, the study found that 63 per cent of all Arts graduates between 2003 and 2012 “felt that their jobs matched their expectations”.
One can justly ask: Is this result satisfactory? Very much depends on the satisfaction level of graduates in other disciplines as well as the expectation levels of the Arts graduates themselves.
While in tough economic times having a job would satisfy the expectations of most young people, it is important they pitch their ambitions at a higher level.
Some Arts graduates may be satisfied working as teachers, or in the public service, or doing clerical work in private businesses connected with tourism, heritage, transport or communications. Graduates in law, medicine, the sciences and technology may have a narrower range of job opportunities even if the ones on offer may be more financially rewarding than those available to Arts graduates.
Tracer studies are undoubtedly important to help students understand the employment prospects that are tied to different types of University qualifications.