Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/887355
maltatoday SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2017 Interview 15 The world of work is a rapidly changing environment, and Malta Employers Association president DOLORES SAMMUT BONNICI argues that our understanding of 'employment' might soon have to change with it rkplace PHOTOGRAPHY BYJAMES BIANCHI ernment has already shifted its responsibility for the first three days of sick leave. The topic came up during dis- cussions, while looking holisti- cally at how the employers are going to balance out the coming application of a political prom- ise to add four days of vacation leave. It is clear that once again the responsibility is being shifted on to the employers. Keeping a balance here is very, very impor- tant... when you consider that in Malta, 84% of our businesses are micro and small enterprises. There are other measures in the pipeline such as sick leave for par- ents, paternal leave… to name a few. What we are arguing is that a form of compensatory measure should be included to balance out the social burden on employers. Meanwhile, in its reaction to the budget, the MEA said, "we need to focus on how economic growth can be generated through a stronger emphasis on increased output per person by shifting to higher value added activities through new economic sectors and also by upgrading existing ones." The emphasis on 'higher output per person' seems ominous: would you expand on that? There is a very simple explana- tion: if a job can be done to its highest efficiency by four men in one day, using semi-skilled la- bour and manual tools; and the same job can also be done using high-tech automatic machinery, or just controlled by one profes- sional man in three days, at the same cost….which one would you pick as an example of economic growth? This also is a way in which incomes can be increased, through higher productivity per employee. And that is real growth. When we talk of a 'boom' in busi- ness, with companies employing more and more workers: it's all well and good, but if we still have unskilled labour, with employees never really moving up the lad- der... then productivity is never going to increase. I'd prefer do- ing the job with fewer but more skilled (and better paid) workers. Speaking of pay: do you think that salaries in Malta are commensurate with the cost of living? What is MEA's long-term vision for the wage structure of Malta? Salaries should compensate and reward the employee's per- formance and skill… so say the workers' unions. The govern- ment, on the other hand, says that salaries should be enough to cover a decent standard of living. What employers feel, however, is that it is crucial for salaries to be in line with the profession or skill offered to render the product or service successful, against both local and foreign competition. Failing this, there would be no employment... and therefore no salaries at all. So ultimately, salaries should reflect productivity. Now: the situation at present is that employers are hav- ing to increase wages just so that employees are retained... because there is such a grave shortage of labour, and rampant poaching is on the rise. This will be very dif- ficult to deal with if the economic situation changes, as it is artifi- cial, and will not hold in low peak times. Currently, differentials are widening because of divergent gross value added between differ- ent sectors of the economy…e.g. i-gaming versus retail. You mean the wage gap between those sectors is too high? It is significantly high. You can't compare a manager's salary in those sectors: I-gaming pays much more, for a variety of rea- sons. But one must be cautious when talking about strategies for wage structures. The government should ensure minimum wages – MEA always supported the mini- mum wage – with COLA adjust- ments. However, wages above that bracket should then be deter- mined by market forces. There is meanwhile a lot of talk about inducing greater female participation in the labour market. Would you agree with quotas for women on company boards, as promoted by the European Commission? The input of women's partici- pation has been proven success- ful already. We must remember that we are talking about 50% of the buying power here, which no- body cared to address or investi- gate since women's rights started falling in place. Female feedback will definitely fill in the missing input for a more holistic decision taken at any board level. Admit- tedly, in Malta we still suffer from chauvinistic male pride in our homes, and our society is perhaps not-all embracing for the work- ing woman... and yet, the struc- tures are all already in place for any woman to come forward and venture into a career. As for quo- tas, I do have mixed feelings. On one hand, I feel we are not a third world country that needs to force women onto boards. I would per- sonally be prouder to see women get there on their own steam and because of their competence. But if targets have to be reached to meet European criteria, and not enough women come forward on their own initiative… then quotas will have to be applied.