During the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference held in Geneva, the Employers’ Delegate for Malta, Mr Joseph Farrugia delivered a strong address that underscored the need for a resilient, equitable, and forward-looking approach to the transformation of the world of work, particularly in the face of accelerating technological and demographic change.
Referring to the ILO Director General’s report, Mr Farrugia noted the global sentiment of uncertainty and discontent, but expressed optimism in Mr Gilbert Houngbo’s call for a renewed social contract—one that places “jobs and rights at the core of economic and financial policies.”
Mr Farrugia highlighted AI as a game-changer that is reshaping the organisation of work and business operations. With quarter of global jobs already deemed to be exposed to AI, he stressed the urgent need for re-skilling and up-skilling workers, especially towards higher value-added roles. He warned that policy must be proactive to ensure the benefits of platform work and digital transformation are not undermined by abuse or inflexibility. “Platform work is not the antonym of decent work,” he asserted, calling for smart regulation and social dialogue to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes.
Touching on Malta’s domestic context, Mr Farrugia spoke of the island nation’s vibrant and inclusive social dialogue mechanisms, where consensus was recently achieved on recruitment agency regulation and meaningful dialogue is ongoing on labour migration policies. With a third of Malta’s labour force made up of third country nationals, he warned of the long-term pressures this demographic reality places on infrastructure and sustainability, underlining the need for Vision 2050—Malta’s national strategy for building a resilient future.
The Maltese economy, he said, continues to experience positive growth driven by SMEs, but “GDP growth alone does not guarantee quality of life.” Echoing, once again, Mr Houngbo’s sentiment, he said the triangle of “jobs, rights and growth” must be supported by sound institutions, policies, and above all, trust.
In a pointed statement, Mr Farrugia called out governance gaps in Malta including, amongst others, the widespread use of direct orders. “Employers support strong compliance structures,” he said, “but expect Government to lead by example.” Recent efforts to suppress citizens’ rights to initiate magisterial enquiries, he added, are further eroding public trust.”
“Rebuilding trust—particularly among youth—is one of the priorities of social dialogue,” Mr Farrugia emphasised. He concluded by reiterating the importance of global cooperation through the ILO and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), warning against rising protectionism and calling on all fellow conference participants that “We have an institutional responsibility to respond.”
Malta Employers were further represented at the ILO Conference by President Ivan Refalo and former President Joanne Bondin. The full text of Mr Farrugia’s speech is available on this link: The full position is available on this link: https://maltaemployers.com/media-item/113th-session-of-the-international-labour-conference/
