Malta: Jobs reduced to 23-hour week in March

People in full-time employment worked an average 23 hours a week during the second half of March this year, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office. Eight in every ten experienced a reduction in working hours as a direct consequence of Covid-19 measures introduced in the same month, including closure of catering establishments, retail outlets and educational centres.

In comparison, the average working week in the last two weeks of March 2019 was of 37 hours – about 60 percent more than the same period this year. Nearly a third of employees who remained in employment during the pandemic declared that they worked zero hours over the same time. Six in ten, however, said that they worked their usual hours.

Another direct effect of the social distancing measures was the increase in teleworking and a third of workers shifted their operations to work from home. A year ago, the share of workforce working remotely was slightly more than one in every ten.