Updated 1200
Malta losing out to competition in recruiting foreign workers
Malta was struggling to recruit foreign workers, with Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, and Portugal becoming more attractive for foreign workers than Malta as businesses struggle to fill vacancies, according to a survey in Business Dialogue, a publication issued by the Central Bank. The CBM said that most company representatives surveyed said that current labour market tightness is worse than before the pandemic. Some 43% of interviewed firms said that they were finding it very difficult to recruit new workers in 2022. This figure rose to 56% in the first quarter of 2023. Particular challenges are being faced in roles related to information technology, compliance, and finance. (Times of Malta)
Median-earning single persons cannot afford average-priced home – study
Single persons in Malta earning a median income of €21,000 a year are unable to borrow enough money to buy an average-priced housing unit on the property market, a new study shows. The study, published last week by Grant Thornton and Dhalia, raises concerns about housing affordability in the Maltese market, which keeps registering rising prices in a construction-fuelled landscape. With the average price for a finished housing unit standing at €259,000, single-person households simply do not have the borrowing capacity to buy their own property, which always requires a 10% deposit for banking finance. (Maltatoday)
Climate change will increase heat-related deaths
A recent study has uncovered scientific evidence linking the local effect of temperatures on respiratory and circulatory-related mortality in Malta, showing that an increase in mortality rates is expected as the climate grows warmer. The study, held by Maltese and Australian researchers, examines the effect of temperatures on local mortality rates, with a focus on respiratory and circulatory-related deaths. The results, which have been published in esteemed peer-reviewed scientific journals, show that currently in Malta cold temperatures are more likely to be strongly associated with mortality than high temperatures. (Newsbook)
Morning Briefing
Foreigners make up 30% of Malta’s workforce
In 2022, the total amount of registered workers was 283,341 of whom 83,856 or 29.6% are foreigner, finance minister Clyde Caruana in a reply to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Ivan Bartolo. Quoting figures from the Labour Force Survey, Caruana said that there were 134,662 individuals in full-time employment and 16,155 individuals in part-time or full-time reduced hours earning less than €21,156. (Newsbook)
Marginal drop in socially deprived
A survey by the Malta National Statistics Office on the income and living conditions found that the percentage of persons living in material and social deprivation decreased marginally by 0.2% to 9.6%, while persons living in severe material and social deprivation decreased by 0.5% to 4.9%. According to latest figures published by the NSO, the persons The number of persons living in materially and socially deprived households stood at 49,298, amounting to 9.6% of the population. The NSO said that a third of those interviewed said that last year they could not afford to pay for a week long holiday, while 15.4% said that they cannot face unexpected expenses amounting to €770 and above.
PM dragging feet to recover Steward money
Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech lamented that more than two months have passed since a court of law rescinded a deal the government had reached to transfer three public hospitals to the private sector, accusing Prime Minister Robert Abela of dragging his feet to take legal action to recover the money. In a press conference outside St Luke’s Hospital, one of the three hospitals involved, Grech said that €400 million had been handed over to Steward in what the court had described as a “fraudulent deal”. PN MP Adrian Delia remarked that by not appealing the judgment, the government had accepted the court ruling, but now the people expected the government to act to safeguard their interests. (The Malta Independent)
