The news last week that another manufacturing company, VF Jeanswear, is about to close shop in Malta to relocate in an Asian country comes as no surprise. This same company had already reduced its workforce by 240 in January 2004, and since then it seemed likely that sooner or later a decision to close the factory would have been taken.

This announcement was followed up by the news that Bortex, another textile company, is to lay off 113 workers.

What will happen at VF and Bortex follows similar decisions taken in this particular sector of the local economy, foremost among which was the closure of the Denim Services factory early last year. It confirms the changing trends in our manufacturing industry, changes that we need to accept as part of the country’s growth.

In its statement announcing the closure of the factory, VF explained the situation very clearly. VF is closing down not because the Maltese workers it employs lack skill, dedication and capabilities. It is doing so because it can achieve the same amount of work at a much cheaper cost, and therefore at much better profits, in Asia. If it remains in Malta, the company said it could no longer remain competitive.

The workers who will find themselves without a job in the coming weeks are, of course, shocked. Every individual employee right now is devastated as a loss of employment is always hard to accept and inevitably leads to a period of insecurity. Every employee has his or her family to think about, and although at this stage no words could be of comfort, all the employees who will be made redundant from VF and Bortex have our solidarity.

Still, they should look at this experience as a challenge to learn new skills. Some might find similar employment, but others will need to be retrained in order to find employment in other kinds of industry, or perhaps move into a new, different scenario altogether.

And this is where the Investment, Industry and IT Ministry comes in. The ministry has for long been insisting that the way things are going, Malta has to concentrate on high-end, rather than low-end, manufacturing. The opposition and unions have often been at loggerheads with the government on this particular issue, but even they must have realised now that there is no way out of this situation.

The development that has taken place in Malta over the past few decades – and this includes better conditions of work and a much improved lifestyle – has its own downfalls, in the sense that companies like VF and Bortex no longer consider Malta as being competitive for their plans.

The positive conditions such companies found in Malta 40, 30 and 20 years ago are no longer there but can be found in countries that are today in the situation Malta was in so many years ago. And this is what is pushing them away from our shores.

On the other hand, Malta has been able to read the signs of the times and the government has taken matters in hand to pave the way for new industries that are more consonant with the prevailing situation.

What is important is that the many people who will lose their job in the process are given enough support to find new employment.

In these particular cases, the government has already contacted the Employment and Training Corporation, offering extra funds if they are needed, to mobilise its resources to help these employees to find alternative employment in the shortest time possible.

On the whole, what must be understood perfectly is that what happened at Denim last year and what will happen at VF and Bortex this summer is inevitable as the country goes through this phase of transition.

Jobs have been lost and will continue to be lost, but unemployment levels have remained stable and this means that these workers are being absorbed by the economy in other sectors. This is the challenge that the government must win.