Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498713
12 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 MAY 2023 Women bosses in Malta right above EU average JAMES DEBONO JUST over a third of Maltese workers have women as their immediate bosses, a figure that is now up from 19% back in 2010. The Europe-wide survey from Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improve- ment of Living and Working Conditions, shows 36% of Mal- tese workers reported their im- mediate boss was a woman, a figure just one point above the figure for the entire European Union (35%). Back in 2010, less than one- fifth of Maltese workers re- ported having a woman boss, well below the EU average of the time (29%). The lowest percentage of workers reporting that their boss is a woman was found in Greece (25%) and Cyprus (26%), while the highest was found in Sweden (48%). The survey also shows that while 46% of Maltese female workers reported that their im- mediate boss is a woman, only 22% of Maltese male workers reported having a female boss. In 2010 only 6% of males re- ported having a female boss, in contrast to 42% of women, showing a greater increase in male workers with a woman boss (16 point). The survey also showed that only 22% of Maltese workers re- ported working in gender-bal- anced workplaces – 37% said the majority of worker were women, while 41% reported being employed in workplace where the majority are men. And in a further indication of gender segregation, 14% are employed in workplaces where nearly all their colleagues are women; and 15% in workplaces where nearly none are women. The survey confirms per- sistent gender segregation in occupations and workplaces, Eurofound said, "indicating that we are a long way from the goals of equal opportunities for women and men at work and equal access to key deci- sion-making positions in the workplace… This calls for a re- doubling of efforts to disman- tle the stereotypes that limit women's and men's choices in work." The survey was carried out in 2021 and based on telephone interviews with over 70,000 workers in 36 European coun- tries, of which 1,000 were Mal- tese. JAMES DEBONO AFTER buying the site of the already approved Townsquare project in Sliema, developer Mi- chael Stivala has presented new plans which include 75 more apartments and a 10-storey ho- tel. The 28-storey Townsquare project in Sliema was approved by the Planning Authority board in 2019, following years of controversy over the height of the high-rise building. The project was a joint venture be- tween the Ganado, Gasan, Sol- er and Trapani-Galea families. But a year ago Stivala, who is also president of the Malta De- velopers Association, clinched a deal with the developers to take over the project for re- portedly €70 million. The latest plans do not fore- see any significant increase in the height of the approved tower but propose an increase in the number of apartments from the 159 approved in 2019, to 234. Moreover, the plans al- so envisage the development of a 10-storey hotel, which will service the apartments in the tower. Serviced apartments, fully furnished and where guests have their needs provided by an adjacent hotel, are increasingly being proposed in major de- velopment projects, including the Jerma (259 serviced apart- ments), the Westin Dragonara (145) and the Villa Rosa project in St George's Bay (789). After being issued with a per- mit for the tower development in 2019, the former owners had applied to add three floors on an approved seven-storey building and change its func- tion from an office block to a 113-room hotel, overlooking a new square near Villa Drago. The villa forms part of the pro- ject's footprint. But according to the plans submitted by Stivala, the ho- tel will now be located further away from Villa Drago in the direction of Hughes Hallet Street. According to the new plans the main entrance and exit to the underground parking will be relocated from Hughes Hal- let to Triq Qui Si Sana. A drop- off zone and a garage entrance for the residential component of the project will still be in Triq Hughes Hallet. Stivala's application also fore- sees a reconfiguration of park- ing levels to increase the num- ber of parking spaces from 600 to 850, and the introduction of a parking area for alternative modes of transport, including cycling, scooters, and taxis. Townsquare apartments increase from approved 159 to 234. Apartments will be serviced by new 10-storey hotel on Hughes Hallet Street Townsquare: Stivala fits in 75 more apartments The 28-storey Townsquare project in Sliema was approved by the Planning Authority board in 2019, following years of controversy over the height of the high-rise building