The use of indicators is necessary, particularly when driving; but then indicators are also essential when making economic forecasts and projections. Different from factual statistics, indicators may well give false impressions. Phony indicators may lead to unexpected crashes.
Recently, Malta has slipped from the fourth to the fifth place in the unemployment ladder when compared to the other European Union countries. Though some would argue that this may well be an insignificant slip, this should not be taken lightly or veiled under different guises in the political arena. This slip comes at a time when economic projections for the coming months indicate that Malta is expected to experience a stable 2.1% economic growth for the rest of the current year and also for 2015. This is significantly higher than that in 2012,which was 0.9% higher than the previous year.
The recent press release issued by the National Statistics Office showed that in January 2014, the number of persons registering for work with the Employment and Training Corporation stood at 7,789, compared to 7,237 in the corresponding month last year.
Data provided by ETC for January indicate an increase of 646 persons registering under Part 1 and a decline of 94 among those registering under Part 2 of the unemployment register, when compared to the corresponding month last year. The number of registrants aged 45 and over went up by 6.7 per cent, to 3,183. Increases were recorded among all age-groups.
When compared to January 2013, an increase of 592 persons was recorded among those who had been registering for more than one year. On the other hand, the number of persons who had been registered unemployed for less than 21 weeks declined by 36. The number of disabled persons registering for employment numbered 547, decreasing by 0.7 per cent over 2013, of whom 83.2 per cent were males.
The largest share of men on the unemployment register sought occupations as crafts and related trades, whereas women mostly sought occupations classified as technicians and associate professionals.
These figures clearly indicate that while Malta managed to overcome the world-wide economic woes in the past years, it is now failing when economic indicators are showing positive signs.
The mobility of workers, their capability to move swiftly from one place of work to another in a flexible labour market, has and will remain an important feature in social market economy like ours. It has been accepted by most of the national stakeholders that our economy cannot provide jobs-for-life. Many and varied may be the reasons why workers change their employment during their work life span. It is a norm that workers change their employment three to four times, and in some cases even more, during their employment path. At other times workers may have to deal with redundancies, therefore accelerating the process in seeking new employment elsewhere.
In an ever changing labour market, workers employability is the key word to ensure the highest number of workers in employment. In this regard, Malta has managed to take bold decisions to ensure that our workforce is professionally trained and well equipped to take on new challenges. During the past years, our workforce was introduced to new challenges arising from new businesses, such as the pharmaceutical industry, remote gaming, aircraft maintenance, creative industries and other industries all providing for lucrative salaries when compared to others. New employment opportunities with more value added. From a labour intensive economy with workers doing repetitive duties, our economy has shifted to more value added businesses where workers enjoy higher and better conditions of work. This level of success can only be maintained if further initiatives and tailor-made programmes are launched to enhance local and attract new foreigndirect investment to our shores, while more workers are encouraged to take part in life-long training and development programmes. Life-long training has to become an integral part of a continuous process.
The quality of life and well-being enjoyed by many people is the direct result of the number of workers in employment. Moreover, the standard of living and quality of life of the thousands of people living on different forms of state assistance, whether in cash or in kind, also depends directly on the number of people productively employed who contribute towards the financing of such social benefits. Thankfully,employment statistics have long been set as an important benchmark to assess the state of the economy.
This brings me to another very interesting piece of information published by the National Statistics Office. Part-time employment in September 2013 went up by 5.1% when compared to 2012 levels. In September 2013, the number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,311 persons; an increase of 4.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2012. Compared to September 2012, the number of employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 33,774 persons; an increase of 5.8 per cent or 1,840 persons when compared to 2012 levels. These figures may well raise a long list of questions. With 1,840 more full-time workers taking on a part-time job in September 2013 could well mean that workers could not make ends meet at the end of the month.
It would be wise to look in depth at these figures and their implications. And it may also be judicious to take into account the considerable number of newly recruited in the public sector,who may otherwise be on the unemployment register. Or maybe a number of those actually on the unemployment register have beenpromised a job with government. Hopefully this is not the case, although this may be plausible!
GejtuVella
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