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9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 E conomic growth over the past seven years was accompanied by an expo- nential increase in the number of for- eign workers. Foreign labour was not only necessary to fill jobs that were shunned by Maltese work- ers but to plug shortages in every sector of the economic rainbow. From the construction sector to waste management, from waiters to accountants, from nurses to carers, from shop assistants to gaming employees, every sector of the economy saw an influx of foreign workers. And this influx happened at the same time that government policies encouraged more women and people on social services to join the labour market. Economic growth created the need for a bigger workforce to be able to meet the growing demands of a society that wanted to improve its quality of life. is sudden influx of foreign workers, some of whom came over with their families and settled here, also created problems in the housing market and placed pressure on the country's infrastructure. But a blanket ban or severe restrictions on foreign labour are not an option because it would be like applying the hand break to a fast-moving car. e analysis accompanying the National Employment Policy 2021-2030 released by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana this week makes it clear that foreign labour will con- tinue to be needed. e first reason is demographic. Malta's fertility rate is one of the lowest in the EU and this is contributing to an aging Maltese workforce. Unless this workforce is replenished by foreign workers, the labour market will ex- perience serious gaps and this will impact the economy. Another reason is the lack of skills within the Maltese workforce that forces employ- ers to seek expertise abroad. Solving demographic issues is not some- thing that can be achieved easily and imme- diately. Even if government introduces in- centives for people to have more babies, and assuming people do respond to them, the result will only be felt in 20 to 25 years' time. is is why Malta must embrace a situa- tion where foreign labour is imported to fill gaps and support the quality of life people have come to expect. Introducing new medical services in hos- pital can only happen if the country has more nurses and doctors. A dwindling Mal- tese population can only produce so much of these in a year, which is why foreign pro- fessionals will be required. e same holds true for other sectors. However, what the new policy does recog- nise is the need to have a clear picture of the true needs of the market so that employers do not import foreign workers with the ex- press intent of undermining labour condi- tions. e second aspect concerns the skills re- quired by the market. e Finance Minister has made a strong and passionate case for Maltese students to continue studying. Half of students exiting 11 years of com- pulsory education do not have six O Levels, some have a poor grip of Maltese, English and maths, making them uncompetitive in the jobs market. A lack of education and a consequent lack of skills will simply condemn most of these children to a life in low paid jobs with no or very little prospects of advancing up the wage ladder. On average, Maltese workers spend 16 years in education before joining the la- bour market. In Ireland, this average is 20 years, which means that students continue to study and train to improve their skill sets, giving them better wage prospects. e emphasis of labour policy in the com- ing years will be on improving worker skills and to do so a whole-society approach is required to imbue the importance of edu- cation. It's education… stupid! 7.10.2021

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