Gozitan workers, including the self-employed, were receiving calls urging them to register with JobsPlus and get a government job “within a few weeks”, sources said.

The sources said the exercise started way before the election was announced but was stepped up in the run-up to Saturday’s polls.

The workers in question were contacted at home and told the calls were being made from the Gozo Ministry. They were encouraged to register on the JobsPlus schedule, so they could be offered a job with the ministry or a government agency in Gozo, also indicating that a call for applications would not need to be issued, the sources said.

They said companies in Gozo risked losing good people because of this “underhanded” way of garnering votes. They said some of the people approached had been in employment for decades and were being lured by the promise of a “cushy” job.

Among the positions being promised were for labourers, the sources said.

“It is useless for the government to promise incentives for Gozitan companies when it is the same government that’s competing by poaching people to join the civil service,” one source remarked.

“The worst part of this is that the government is not poaching such people for some productive work but to buy votes from those who already have a job in the private sector.

“Through such an approach, the government has undermined the Gozo companies’ efforts to attract potential employees,” the same sources continued.

Among those receiving calls were those working for Magro Brothers, a Gozo-based family-run manufacturing concern, and furniture makers FXB.

Sources close to both companies confirmed there had been a number of employees who had left and who were in their notice period. Officially, however, none of the companies would comment.

A self-employed car sprayer even received a call urging him to apply under part three of the JobsPlus register. This category is open to those in employment but who want to change jobs.

The sources said almost 50 labourers had already been employed with the civil service in Gozo after being poached from private companies. One company experienced a haemorrhage of almost 20 people in recent weeks, the sources said.

Others who accepted changing jobs were employed as senior scientific officers and builders. Almost 150 joined Gozo Channel.

A spokeswoman for the Gozo Ministry would not comment, and questions sent via e-mail a week ago remained unanswered.