Malta’s underemployment rates are almost half the average rates for the EU, according to figures released by Eurostat.
While the underemployment of part-time workers in Malta stood at 2.4 per cent, down 0.5 percentage points from a year before, it was four per cent in the EU28. The highest rate was in 6.4 per cent in Spain and Ireland.
The number of people in the workforce not seeking jobs was 1.8 per cent in Malta (-0.7 percentage points) while that in the EU28 was 4.1 per cent (+0.4).
Some forms of unemployment are not covered by the ILO definition. They are: underemployed part-time workers, jobless people seeking a job but not immediately available for work, and jobless people available for work but not seeking it.
These three groups do not meet all criteria of the ILO unemployment definition, namely, being without work, actively seeking work, and being available for work. However, while not being captured through the unemployment rate, these groups still represent a form of unmet demand for employment.
While EU-28 unemployment increased sharply since 2008 and the beginning of the economic and financial crisis, the three soft forms of unemployment have experienced far more stable trends during this turbulent period, Eurostat reported.
The proportion of underemployed part-time workers in the labour force has grown slightly from 3.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to four per cent in the third quarter of 2013. The percentage of people available but not seeking work followed the same trend, reaching 4.1 per cent in 2013 Q3. People seeking work but not immediately available has remained close to one per cent over the whole timespan, showing no noticeable change since the start of the economic crisis.
In the EU28 in 2012 there were 9.2 million underemployed part-time workers, 2.3 million jobless people seeking a job but not immediately free for work, and 8.9 million people available for work but not seeking it.
The Malta Employers Association said that the figures cast light on the trends in the Maltese labour force. “The figure of 2.4 per cent for underemployed part-time workers results from the fact that the percentage of part-timers working in Malta is lower than the EU average, and that the majority of these are doing so by choice, without expecting to work more hours,” director general Joe Farrugia said.
“This adds weight to the contention by the MEA that discussing part-time employment within the context of precarious work in Malta does not reveal the true state of affairs in the domestic labour market. Other countries have a much higher rate of underemployed part-time workers. For example, the corresponding figure in the UK stands at six per cent.
Job market
“With respect to people available to work but not seeking employment, the figure in Malta, at 1.8 per cent is also comparatively low, as the EU average is 4.1 per cent.
“These figures widen the definition of unemployment to provide a more specific picture of the labour market situation in the EU through the suggestion that there can be an unemployed element even among those who may be active in the labour force, or else those who maybe looking for work although they are not registering as such.
“These figures confirm that the employment situation in Malta remains healthy relative to many other EU states,” he concluded.
Josef Vella, secretary general of the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin said that according to Labour Force Survey for 2013 Q3, Malta’s labour force (employed and unemployed) totalled 188,900 people. “In absolute terms, the percentage of underemployed part-time workers and the percentage available to work but not seeking a job translate into 4,500 and 3,400 respectively,” he said.
Mr Vella said there are about 27,700 workers whose primary job is part-time work. This means 16.2 per cent of part-timers would like to work more but cannot find a full-time job. In the EU28, he said, the comparative figure is 27.6 per cent.
“Malta has the fifth lowest rate of underemployed part-timers. Nevertheless, the UĦM is of the opinion that profiling should be carried out to help such people find full-time employment. This should identify whether skill mismatching is contributing to the problem,” he said.
He said survey also refers to people available to work but not seeking a job. The reasons for this are various but predominantly revolve around whether work-pays.
“The introduction of free childcare, for example, is a move in the right direction as it will help low-income workers to keep on working. The trade-off between work and childcare will no longer remain. UĦM acknowledges the efforts made to introduce the measure after it was suggested by the same union in 2012. To make work-pay additional measures are required, such as the introduction of in-work benefits. The UĦM will keep on insisting on this measure as it is the key to attract low-skilled workers in employment and to reduce in-work poverty,” he said.
Foreigners – either nationals from another EU member state or non-EU nationals – are relatively more represented than nationals in the groups of underemployed part-time workers and people seeking work but not immediately available. Out of the 9.2 million underemployed part-timers in the EU28 in 2012, 1.3 million are not nationals of the country where they live. They are overrepresented relative to their share in the population aged 15 to 74: they form 14 per cent of the underemployed, whereas foreigners constitute only seven per cent of the total population aged 15 to 74 in the EU28.
This indicates that proportionally more foreigners work in part-time jobs with fewer hours than they would like to work, possibly pointing to their either having to accept those jobs or to their being more eager to work additional hours to earn more.
Similarly, the share of foreigners among people seeking work but not immediately available is 12 per cent, much higher than their seven per cent share of the total population.