It’s not always cheap labour

The received wisdom is that Malta is attracting so many foreigners and its GDP is growing because of its extended use of cheap labour.

People who say so may be thinking of asylum seekers, boat people rescued from the sea, the migrants one sees at the Marsa crossroads and people employed in the construction business in general.

But not all foreign workers come by boat from North Africa. And not all foreign workers work for a cheap wage.

If one talks to people, one finds out that things are differently from the common perception.

First of all, it is not possible to employ people at cheaper rates. Most work except the very marginal, is highly regulated and it is not easy to get work permits as it is.

Secondly, and more importantly, you would not get any Maltese to do the job. This is really extraordinary. You go to a restaurant or a hotel and all, or almost all, the staff is foreign. Some cannot even understand English or barely speak the language.

As we say in a story that appears on Page 3 today, quoting from a Malta Gamin Authority report, Malta-licensed online gambling operators had nearly 800 unfilled positions at the end of last year, primarily due to a lack of qualified applicants.

One question comes immediately to mind: what do the Maltese workers want to work at? They seem to shun working late or at night, although the hospitals employ many people who work shifts. Some factories do work 24x7. The bus service runs till late hours but then many bus drivers are foreign.

Otherwise, people seem to prefer to work in construction, where there is a certain amount of owner-contractors; while others are employed by the retail sector even at importer level.

And of course, others prefer to be hand-picked for plum government jobs through their political connections, regardless of their qualifications.

So it stands to reason that unfilled jobs have to be filled in somehow, even if that means the shop assistant/waiter/employee cannot really communicate with the customer.

Where do we go from here? It is quite right for foreign employees to get paid as the Maltese are for

Where do we go from here? It is quite right for foreign employees to get paid as the Maltese are for doing the same job. Hopefully, in the coming time, we may somehow get to integrate them better and to ensure a better communication with the Maltese (and also foreign) customers.

doing the same job. Hopefully, in the coming time, we may somehow get to integrate them better and to ensure a better communication with the Maltese (and also foreign) customers. Many times, relations with customers leave a lot to be desired and one misses so much the service with a smile.

Secondly, the Maltese must learn to appreciate such work and not find the easy way out. The Maltese as a people are quite low on the skills side and many are quite deficient on the interpersonal side of business.

These are the days of incessant graduation ceremonies at the university and MCAST. Hopefully such upward progression will attract other Maltese to find a sustainable way of improving their condition that is not through the well-tested ways of avoiding anything that reeks of hard work and dedication to one’s job.