Chamber Of Commerce Proposes Cap On Non-EU Workers In Maltese Businesses
The Malta Chamber of Commerce has proposed the introduction of a cap on the number of non-EU nationals that a local business can employ.
The chamber is proposing a cap on the percentage of third-country nationals (NCT) out of the total number of employees that a business can employ at any point. This is unless it is operating in essential services like healthcare, waste management, and public transport.
This is one of a series of measures suggested in its pre-budget document.
The proposal further includes the tight regulation of temping agencies, transforming them in a way that they can provide for seasonal staff requirements.
This, they argued, should work in conjunction with the imposition of a monthly quota per company for TCN applications proportional to the number of employees registered with JobsPlus.
Exceptions to this quota to allow for large-scale business expansion should only be granted on a case-by-case system.
“This will discourage duplicate and superfluous applications that are clogging the system.”
The chamber justified this argument by explaining that while foreign workers are essential in Malta, they cannot “remain the only remedy for local labour shortages”.
“Our country needs to overhaul our education system and implement automation strategies to complement our workforce.”
“At the same time, a more strategic offering for highly skilled non-EU citizens who want to live and work in the country to fill pressing qualitative skill gaps in the labour market is required, with clearly defined eligibility criteria including high salary thresholds.”
These proposals form part of more than another 250 proposals that tackle things like workers’ rights, judicial and pensions reform, upskilling, and more.
Read the full document here.
Do you agree with the chamber’s proposals?
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