Figures published by the National Statistics Office regarding full-time employment show that, in March of this year, 147,355 people were employed on a full-time basis - an increase of 2,606 compared to the same period last year.
Unemployment figures, meanwhile, also show that in July of this year 6,510 people were registering for work, 318 less than a year earlier.
This impressive outcome is the result of careful planning to attract commercial investment, public investment in education, political stability and also the introduction of family-friendly measures intended mainly to attract more women to the labour market.
Investing in education and training
The Employment and Training Corporation offers courses aimed at helping people seeking employment or alternative employment not only by placements but also by improving their skills through training in order to meet the different requirements of industry.
The ETC’s training courses are aimed at providing new skills for better work, as is the Youth.inc initiative, which is intended to help those who have left school early without qualifications. These youngsters are offered a different route to further education and are also helped by a youth support worker to find adequate employment. The course is on two levels and has proved to be impressively successful.
Another successful programme is the Employment Aid Programme, which provides financial assistance for a year to employers who employ people that satisfy certain criteria. For companies that employ people with a disability, the subsidy is extended to three years. These are just two of the popular programmes that the ETC has initiated in recent years for the benefit of the unemployed.
Investing in more graduates
More than 20, 000 students are following tertiary education at the university and MCAST and a thousand full-time students attend the Institute for Tourism Studies. The numbers are bound to grow because of the anticipated new entries at the start of the next academic year, considering that recent results have shown a 76 per cent pass rate at Advanced level out of a total of 3,489 candidates, while at Ordinary level 70.6 per cent from a total of 2,897 were successful.
In the last five years, 13,694 students graduated from the University of Malta. This is a far cry from the days when only 800 students followed courses at the local university.
Last year, MCAST offered 127 full-time courses that were taken by 5,225 students while the 282 part-time courses attracted another 5,000.
Stipends totalling more than €24m are given annually to these students, so that they are not a burden on their parents while they are studying.
Investing in family-friendly measures
Everyone agrees that the family is the heart of the Maltese and Gozitan people and its safeguarding is fundamental. The government also recognises the balanced input of both partners in the upbringing of children. In the last few years it has put into practise these beliefs by developing and gradually implementing various family-friendly measures. These include provisions for leave where it concerns marriage, maternal, parental, paternity and adoption; special leave to foster children, responsibility leave and work on a reduced time-table.
The Public Service Collective Agreement 2005-2010 ensured new provisions for more flexible use of parental leave and reduced hours and also one year of unpaid parental leave which may be taken three months at a time, apart from a once only maximum period of five years unpaid parental leave which can be taken either as a continuous period or in multiples of three months. It also provides the possibility to work on a reduced timetable until the child reaches the age of 12.
Investing to attract more women
into the labour market
The participation rate of women in the labour market is still below the desired level and the Lisbon targets. However, it is pertinent to note that in recent years there have been more female graduates than male, and female participation is also increasing in the lower age brackets. This is definitely due to various government initiatives and incentives such as the fiscal benefits for women who return to work. It is estimated that in the last couple of years thousands have benefited from these schemes. At the same time, the number of public and private child care centres has been constantly on the increase to meet the demands of modern family life.
Nothing just happens
We have been through some hard times and we still have to face some tough challenges, however the results, analysed in context, speak for themselves. Of course, nothing just happens. Success is the result of good – albeit difficult – decisions.