Businesses battle a shortage of local skilled workers and a brain drain

Businesses are getting increasingly worried by a shortage of local skilled workers and tougher competition for foreign workers, the president of the  Malta Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday.

Marisa Xuereb told an EY Malta conference that investors are finding it hard to find local skilled talent to fill their vacancies as job creation outstrips supply.

Guaranteeing a stable, capable workforce for the near future had therefore become one of the biggest challenges that businesses faced, she told the Malta Future Realised conference.

Declining birth rate, young local talent going abroad

The skilled worker shortage had been a growing concern for several years, she said. 

“The gains made through a steady increase in female participation in the last decade have plateaued, and the declining birth rate coupled with the eagerness of young graduates to seek greener pastures overseas is making it very difficult for businesses to recruit locally.”

The conference discussion revolved around the results of the 18th annual EY Malta Attractiveness Index, conducted among 120 foreign investors and companies in Malta and published on Tuesday.

It found that the second biggest risk to...