The number of unemployed people in Malta has been over the 8,000 mark for quite some time now. Although the number fluctuates up or down by a few tens, it seems that we cannot bring it down to lower levels.

The last unemployment rate available from the National Statistics Office, that for November, indicated that 5.6 per cent of the labour supply is without a job. The unemployment rate among young people was 8.2 per cent.

We must look at these figures not in terms of numbers but in terms of individuals. There are 8,000 individuals, many of them with a family to support, who have no means of income.

Of course, there is a number of them who register for work while doing enough to bring in the money they need to run their family. In such cases, everything possible should be done to bring them to book as they are literally defrauding the country, firstly by pocketing unemployment benefit and secondly by not paying taxes and national insurance contributions. It is strange that in this small country there could be such offenders.

But then there are the genuine unemployed, those who try as they might cannot find employment in an economy that has been struggling for the last few years. The two biggest chunks in this case are the younger generations, those who have finished their studies and are looking for their first job (nearly 28 per cent of the unemployed in March) and people over 40-45 years of age (41 per cent) who have, in many instances, been made redundant and who, mostly because of their age and skills, do not manage to find employment elsewhere.

It is very frustrating to want to work and yet none is available. Work is – or should be – the essence of one’s life and people without a job will tell you that they feel demoralised, unhappy and empty. These feelings are exacerbated if the people in question have a family they have to take care of, with all the expenses that this brings with it.

The efforts that have been done in the past years to improve the economic situation of the country and, as a direct result, generate more jobs, have not achieved the desired results. Several companies have closed up and, although others have been set up, it is still not enough to bring down the unemployment rate to more satisfactory levels.

There are other issues that need to be seen to and one of them is the training programmes offered by the Employment and Training Corporation. These programmes are intended to teach particular skills to unemployed persons so as to give them a better possibility of finding a job.

They were introduced particularly for people who are over 40-45 years and who cannot find a job like the one they had in the past and, therefore, need to acquire new abilities. This initiative has helped many find new employment but, again, there is only so much that the ETC can do. The problem remains because companies prefer to employ younger people – when vacancies exist – and it is, therefore, harder for the over 40s to compete with those who have just finished school or university.

While younger people taking up their first job might bring enthusiasm and are easier to mould into a system, the older people will bring with them a wealth of

experience that is always handy when dealing with certain situations.

We are not saying that companies should employ older people and not the younger ones. What we are saying is that “old” age should not be at a disadvantage when it comes to employing people.

The two generations of job-seekers should be treated equally.