A new survey found that 72% of Maltese professionals felt their stress levels had increased in the beginning of this month due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Conducted by the Malta Federation of Professional Associations, the survey asked about working conditions in light of the pandemic, particularly stress levels and financial situations of respondents within the last weeks of March.

Out of 1,163 respondents, almost a third said they worked longer hours since mid-March, with self-employed participants reporting higher levels of stress (74.9%), compared to 70.5% of those employed and 70.6% of those in part-time practice.

If the situation persists for two further months, a third believe their stress levels will increase.

The majority of respondents said their work normally entails face-to-face contact with clients, 65.3% of which were healthcare professionals mostly working in clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. A third of all respondents said they were at a high risk of being infected with the coronavirus.

In regard to the financial impact of the global health crisis, an overwhelming majority (96.9%) of self-employed professionals said they reported a loss, with 70.3% citing a loss of half their usual income.

Professionals were also asked whether they found the government’s aid schemes of any benefit, such as the teleworking grant or that which could guarantee full-time employees €800 a month for those in industries worst affected by COVID-19.

It was found that around two thirds (62.7%) of self-employed found none of the packages applied to them, whilst 25.8% of self-employed were not aware of the schemes.

Only 11.5% of self-employed respondents reported that the packages were helpful.

Most suggested that tax credits would be beneficial to help mitigate financial losses.  Other suggested compensations included reductions in water and electricity bills, suspension of bank loans, increases in health allowance and provision of additional monetary bonuses.

Have you been affected by the COVID-19 crisis? Contact us at [email protected] to share your story.