Just 15 per cent of intellectually impaired people who signed up to find a job since 2013 are currently employed, government figures reveal.
Some 185 intellectually impaired people registered with the Employment and Training Corporation over the past two years, but just 27 are currently working.
The figures, compiled by the Education and Employment Ministry, show that just 2,000 of some 20,000 people with different disabilities were employed overall, meaning some 95 per cent remained out of work. The figure is particularly dismal when compared to the 50 per cent EU average.
Malta Employers Association director general Joseph Farrugia said intellectually impaired employees topped the list of “difficult” personnel.
“I think when it comes to disability, intellectually impaired people are harder to employ. We have seen this from our members, who talk to us about the vast spectrum of intellectually impaired employees and the challenges faced by both employers and employees,” he said.
Although Mr Farrugia said many of his members employed disabled people, nearly three quarters of the 1,300 biggest businesses in Malta did not hire any disabled people whatsoever.
While most people wait 152 days to find a job through the ETC, for disabled people the average wait is 444
And, while most people wait 152 days to find a job through the ETC, for disabled people the average wait is 444.
The government is planning to amend the Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act, to tackle the situation. It seeks to introduce measures to encourage employers to take on disabled workers.
Once the amendments are approved, employers will have to pay a “contribution” of €2,400 for every disabled person that they are supposed to employ but have failed to do so.
The money will be used to provide training and job opportunities for the disabled.
Meanwhile, businesses will benefit from a €4,500 tax cut for each employee with a disability.
Mr Farrugia said the association was in favour of measures to help improve disabled persons’ employability, however, he felt more should be done before businesses were expected to take on more disabled workers or face forking out a payment.
“In an ideal world, all disabled people who want to work are employed, no questions asked. However, employing disabled people brings with it a number of difficulties; training staff, altering the workplace, providing suitable tasks and even personalised assistance. Businesses need help to introduce all of this,” he said.
Mr Farrugia added that the type of task and even duration of a working day assigned to disabled employees was also often an issue.
“Not all disabled people can work a full week. Very often they require specifications of working around four to five hours a day for instance. Now this can be arranged and in some cases it is. But I think more time and effort is needed from both businesses and stakeholders,” he said.