Read the Highlights of 2020 here.
Malta Enterprise and the Malta Employers’ Association signed a cooperation agreement which will enhance collaboration between the two entities in the area of employment relations as well as contributing to MEAINDEX, an online resource for entrepreneurs.
The agreement cements the excellent relations between Malta Enterprise and MEA as a key social partner.
ME and MEA have also agreed on sharing aggregated information for the purpose of data analysis of facts and figures in relation to employment in Malta.
Through this agreement, ME will be a partner in MEA’s online resource for entrepreneurs MEAINDEX. This online platform serves as an important tool for employers and MEA members to keep up to date with developments and current affairs related to business in Malta and employment relations.
In his comments regarding this collaboration MEA Director General, Joseph Farrugia stated that “The Malta Employers Association would like to commend Malta Enterprise on its efficiency in administering the COVID Wage supplement saved thousands of jobs. MEA is enthusiastic about this collaboration which will continue to build on the fruitful relationship already in place between both sides”.
Malta Enterprise CEO, Kurt Farrugia, stated that the enhanced collaboration is a continuation of the encouraging results achieved during the Covid-19 emergency that led to the survival of businesses and protecting jobs for over 80,000 employees. “The Covid Wage Supplement served as a lifeline to employees. It also confirmed that employers are willing to go an extra mile to protect the livelihood of their employees. Through this cooperation agreement we commit to extending our excellent relationship while ensuring the transfer of knowledge which will result in better policy decisions,” said Kurt Farrugia.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was presided by Malta Enterprise Chairman William Wait and MEA President Dolores Sammut Bonnici.
For more information on the latest Covid schemes for businesses log onto covid19.maltaenterprise.com
Or one can access directly the MEA Covid-19 Employers Handbook through https://maltaemployers.com/en/covid-19-employers-handbook
The Malta Employers’ Association has conducted an online survey among employers to test business performance in times of COVID-19. The response to the survey consisted of 237 companies in the private sector, with a spread across all economic sectors and size of companies, employing in the region of 40,000 persons.
Click here to access the full presentation.
The research findings show that 81% of respondent companies have experienced a loss of business due to COVID-19, 3% experienced an increase in business and 16% of respondents claim that COVID-19 is having no effect on their business operations. June-August have been better than March-May for 48% of respondents; 38% of respondents claimed that business remained the same and 16% of respondents claimed that business performance was worse than Jun-Aug 2020.
73% of respondent companies answered that they have foreseen the second wave following the increase in Covid-19 cases after the 20th July, and this has affected many companies (73%) in their business projections for the fourth quarter of 2020. 96% of respondent companies claim that the second wave could have been totally or partially avoided.
Only 19% of respondents declared that they have made redundancies, with 85% of those who have stating that the rate of redundancies has been, so far, less than 25%.
However, in spite of this somewhat positive scenario, only 38% of respondents said that they will not increase redundancies in the coming 3 months (Sept-Nov). 19% replied that redundancies will increase beyond September and 43% said that they are undecided. This is indicative of a high level of uncertainty that prevails in the business environment.
62% of companies surveyed are making use of the wage supplement schemes, 24% have benefitted from the Electricity and Rent Refund Scheme, 19% have benefitted from the teleworking equipment schemes and 11% have made use of bank moratorium.
44% of companies surveyed are envisaging that business will depend on extended government support for 2021, and 22% are still undecided.
In sectors where teleworking is viable, many companies (65%) have introduced or enhanced teleworking arrangements for their employees. 60% of these companies claim that employees have been equally productive and 7% have been more productive than when working from the place of work. Unfortunately, 33% of respondents claimed that teleworking arrangement have not produced positive results as employees have been less productive. 42% of respondent companies envisage keeping teleworking arrangements post-COVID, while 20% are still undecided.
38% of respondent companies are going to be strongly affected if schools do not operate normally in the coming scholastic year.
60% of survey respondents have not yet initiated any investment projects that have been postponed due to COVID-19. Out of this 60%, 11% stated that they will definitely be reactivating their projects within the next 12 months. 23% stated that they will definitely NOT be reactivating their projects within the coming 12 months, while another 36% are still unsure. Another 30% did not answer the question.
Major employment related matters that are affecting business in the current situation include:
– Sense of instability and uncertainty
– Demotivated employees
– Fear of returning to work
– Less cash in hand (struggling to pay salaries)
– Lack of skilled staff (recruitment issues)
– Permits of foreign nationals
– Increase in sick leave
– Quarantine Leave
The survey concludes that the majority of the respondent companies (57%) need more than 12 months to recover.
The manual includes all the details of the schemes available, useful contacts, and replies to frequently asked questions that many members are encountering. This resource will be a work in progress and will be constantly updated with new FAQs and any other relevant information.
Click here to access the manual.
Read the Highlights of 2019 here.
The Malta Employers’ Association has conducted a wage inflation survey among a wide cross section of employers from all sectors of the economy and representing all sizes of companies. The Association stated that there is a strong need for such a study given the current transformation of the labour market which is facing skills shortages, and a reliance on foreign labour to meet demand. This situation is also creating a higher labour turnover, resulting in added labour costs due to costs of recruitment and training.
The report segments the results by sector, size of company and also differentiates between unionised and non-unionised companies. The results reveal a widespread concern that wage inflation is a reality which is being mostly generated because of labour shortages, rent and property inflation, and a high turnover. More than half of respondents reported a turnover exceeding 10% of their labour force in 2018, and 16% had a turnover of more than 30%.
Most companies report labour cost increases that outpace productivity which may negatively affect the long sustainability of many enterprises. This phenomenon is prevalent across all sectors of the economy, and irrespective of whether a company is unionised or not. In this scenario, the public sector is competing with the private sector for Maltese labour. 18% of respondents attributed their labour turnover to employment with the public sector, particularly for unskilled and semi-skilled employees.
The report includes a number of recommendations to address the situation, amongst them strengthening Identity Malta for a faster processing of applications for Third Country Nationals, incentives for persons who reach pensionable age to remain in the labour force, and an appeal to government to refrain from introducing measures that increase labour costs to businesses. The MEA is recommending that remuneration packages of persons on a position of trust to be made public, as these are also distorting relativities in the private sector, and a reform of the public sector wage scales.
The Association also called for long-term economic growth strategies to be based on efficiencies and higher output per person, rather than on an increase in working people.
During the presentation of the National Enterprise Support Awards (NESA), which was organised by the Commerce Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Investment and Small Businesses, at Dar l-Ewropa on the 21st June, the SME Helpdesk within the Malta Employers’ Association once again was declared as the overall winner of category B. Now MEA, together with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, which placed second place, will be eligible to represent Malta at the next European Enterprise Promotion Awards Ceremony which is scheduled to take place at Helsinki next November.
The project submitted by MEA was the MEAINDEX – the online toolbox for business entrepreneurs, which is coordinated by the SME Helpdesk. The MEAINDEX was officially launched in 2018, and is fast being recognised as a unique source of information for anything which is business related, from entities related to our business ecosystem contact numbers to information about any incentives, schemes and training programmes available.
Since MEA has started participating in the NESA in 2015, it has placed first three times – 2015, 2017, 2019 and second in 2016 and 2018. In 2015 and 2017, it was also shortlisted by an adjudicating committee appointed by the EU Commission of European Enterprise Promotion Awards and on both occasions, besides placing among the top three projects submitted across the EU, we also received a special mention certificate.
On Friday 10th May, MEA signed a collaboration agreement with the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS). The agreement, which is for a period of five years will involve the promotion of the services offered by the FSWS on the MEAINDEX online portal. This will provide exposure to services and programmes, such as the S.A.F.E. programme (Substance Abuse Free Employee Programme), which has been implemented by various companies in Malta. In the coming years, MEA and FSWS will co-operate in activities such as the SME week, seminars, conferences and training activities which will be of benefit to employers and to Maltese society in general.
During a press conference organised for the occasion, both Mr. Alfred Grixti (CEO – FSWS) and Mr. Joseph Farrugia (Director General – MEA) emphasised the importance of stakeholder co-operation in promoting a substance abuse free workplace. Mr. Farrugia said that MEA will be promoting the S.A.F.E. programme among its members. Information about this programme may be achieved here.
Mr Charles Scerri (Operations Director – Sedqa) said that Agenzija Sedqa welcomed the idea of this collaborative partnership agreement, and thanked MEA for offering them this opportunity to outreach more employers.
Mr. Anton Vella spoke about the importance of the MEAINDEX as a resource for employers about all aspects of business, including social issues such as those addressed by the FSWS. He expressed his satisfaction that more companies are visiting the portal daily and that it is becoming a useful tool for the dissemination of information among businesses in Malta. This is the 12th such agreement reached with other stakeholders who are supporting MEAINDEX.
Read the Highlights in 2018.
The site of what was formerly an old power station in Tallinn, Estonia on November 23rd was packed with more than five hundred delegates from all over the European Union to attend the annual European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) organized by the European Commission. Every year, a board of judges is appointed to decide on the best among hundreds of projects to win coveted prizes in different categories that are submitted by organizations from all over the EU.
Last May, the Association was awarded the National Enterprise Support Award which meant that it could participate in the EEPA. The project submitted was ‘The Malta Business Story Initiative‘, in which two entrepreneurs- Gianni and Katrina – set up a business and experience many typical situations faced by start ups and established businesses which are addressed by links to the topics covered by MEA TV programmes. In fact, the project includes links to more than 90 programmes, and was made available to MEA members earlier this year. This has been used to educate the public about labour and social policy issues, and also by businesses as a point of reference about matters that affect them as employers. It is also being used by many companies to train staff.
This project drew the attention of the jury and MEA was awarded a special mention as one of the foremost four projects from amongst hundreds submitted overall from EU countries. The Association had already won this recognition in 2015 with another project and no other organisation has been given an award twice in the eleven years since the EEPA has been organized. In his address to the assembly, Mr. Joseph Farrugia explained how the television programmes are educating the public and how the Malta Business Story is a useful tool for businesses which can transferred to other countries. The experience in Tallinn is recognition by the Commission of the valid initiatives that the Association is taking to support the business community in investing in entrepreneurial skills, and is an honour for Malta.
The Association expressed its thanks to the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) for being given the opportunity to produce the MEA TV Programme which is now running in its ninth session.
