Focus Group Meetings

The Malta Employers Association, kicked off the PROAction initiative by launching an extensive and wide-ranging dialogue with stakeholders designed to address one of the most pressing challenges being faced by local businesses at the present time, that of acquiring and retaining the right human resources to expand their operations and at time even to maintain the present level of activity. Throughout the month of June, the MEA held a series of focus groups among businesses aimed at taking stock of the challenges and priorities in terms of skills availabilities in key economic sectors namely transport, professional services & ICT, tourism, hospitality & retail and manufacturing.

Under the heading “Ensuring the Skills for Future Competitiveness”, the key objective of these Focus group meetings was, to come up with lasting solutions to this new reality, while also tackling the need for academia to adapt further to the requirements of industry.

MEA convinced that as the Maltese economy seeks to regenerate itself in the post-pandemic era through new avenues of growth, firms are facing an unprecedented challenge in attracting the right talent for their organisation. A number of factors have contributed to this new reality, including an ageing population, a skills deficit in key jobs and the impact of the pandemic which has seen tens of thousands of third country nationals leave their jobs on the island. As a forward-looking Association, we want to come up with tangible solutions to sustain Malta’s drive towards competitiveness and renewed growth.

MEA believes that the objectives of this wide-ranging consultation and dialogue is to match the vision of many organisations in terms of the consolidation of Malta’s competitiveness position by seeking successful solutions for the prevailing gaps in skills and talent. At the same time, our exercise aims to map out the fundamental processes and pillars that need to be in place to ensure a smooth functioning labour market in the longer-term where business needs match the ambitious aspirations of our future work-force.