Competitiveness is all about productivity and does not boil down to salaries, Social Policy Minister John Dalli believes.
"It's not an excuse to say that salaries are not being increased to protect competitiveness. Competitiveness depends on productivity alone. For each euro paid in salary we must produce more than we did before.
"If there's the need to increase that euro to two euros, then productivity must more than double," Mr Dalli said during a round table meeting on education and employment organised by the Nationalist Party in the run-up to Independence Day.
His words echoed those of the director general of the Malta Employers' Association, Joe Farrugia who - during a similar meeting on the economy on Wednesday - said salaries ought to reflect productivity and not inflation rates.
Mr Dalli told stakeholders in the education and employment sector that competitiveness can also be strengthened by ensuring that employees have more than one skill.
Gone are the days when an employee retains the same job for life and, given the realities faced by a small country like Malta, a variety of skills provides workers with a safety net and job flexibility.
Multi-skilled workers are also an asset to their employer and lead to better competitiveness and productivity, Mr Dalli said, adding that the government must ensure that workers are provided with skills that facilitate such job mobility. In fact, he said, the Employment and Training Corporation's new target was to achieve the dual training of workers.
Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi stressed on the inextricable link between education and employment. All in all, the country was on the right track when tackling these issues but there were certain challenges to be faced. These included the lack in job opportunities in Gozo, even though Gozitan students were being given the same opportunities, and the maximisation of the potential of people who are not good at school.
Quoting statistics issued by the National Statistics Office yesterday (that showed that the gainfully occupied population increased by 3,188 persons over a year) he said this was a good sign at a time when one would expect the opposite given that: more people were opting to continue their studies (rather than enter the job market immediately), the number of pensioners was on the increase and, last year, several people lost their job when textiles companies closed down. The figures showed that entering the EU was a good decision, he said.
Dr Gonzi said that throughout the meeting he wanted to listen to the stakeholders' ideas on various subjects such as student stipends, how they were being used and whether they could be incentivised.
He also wished to discuss employment areas that needed to be modernised and how the educational system was responding to the economy's needs and the 2015 national target to increase the number of students who pursue their studies (from 70 per cent) to 85 per cent, among other things.