Study will rank Maltese businesses requiring skills cards the most

The National Skills Council is undertaking a feasibility study that will assess the benefits and challenges to introduce skills cards for workers in each of Malta’s different industries and business sectors.

Against the backdrop of a tight labour market and growing demands for skilled workers and good communication, Malta will be introducing skills cards that will carry concise information on workers’ individual skills, qualifications, and competencies.

Skill cards can also include information on workers’ technical expertise as well as transversal skills – typically considered as not specifically related to a particular job or academic discipline – and other relevant qualifications.

The study is expected to assess and rank which Maltese business sectors will require skill cards the most, as well as the effectiveness of introducing a skill card framework, providing decision-makers with data on which business will derive the greatest benefits from the system.

The study will exclude the construction and hospitality industries.

The Building and Construction Authority had agreed on the introduction of skill cards in 2016, but to date the implementation focused on a health and safety skill card for construction workers, intended to be extended in a phased approach.

The hospitality industry, where 48% of its workforce is not Maltese, announced the introduction of a skill ‘pass’ in 2023. The Malta Tourism Authority is set to initiate the rollout of skill cards in 2024, initially targeting non-EU nationals. Subsequently, by 2025, the skill card requirement will be expanded to encompass local workers and other EU nationals.

In recent years, Malta experienced rapid economic growth and a growing demand for jobs. As unemployment fell to historic levels, gaps in the skills required for various jobs started appearing in the workforce.

The COVID pandemic upended Malta’s labour market: when the economy rebounded in 2021, industries were suddenly faced with a shortage of skilled labour, and workers from outside the EU plugged the resultant shortfall. In 2022, Malta employed 97,000 foreign nationals, two-thirds of which (63%) were non-EU nationals. In total, one-third of Malta’s workforce (36%) is made up of EU and non-EU workers.

But businesses today said that Malta’s new workforce suffers from a lack of skills that has affected the quality of service they offer to consumers.

“Despite the large number of migrant workers coming to Malta, the most critical challenge remains a deficiency in skills, which falls short of the labour force benchmarks required for a highly diversified business environment,” the National Skills Council has said.

Malta’s economic diversity – a large portfolio of business sectors that range from fisheries to tourism – demands a very wide range of skills, but its labour market is still struggling to meet this demand, the NSC said.

A recent HR Pulse Survey in 2022 indicated that 75% of employers confirmed that attracting the right skills is their major concern. A study by the National Statistics Office found that vertical skills mismatch was experienced by 54.3% of the working population.

“Against a backdrop of mounting skill challenges, the strategy of importing skills from EU and third countries and the possibility of upskilling existing human resources, need to be more discerning and uncompromising in matching candidate skills with job requirements.

This also applies to the indigenous workforce,” the NSC said.