A shortage of workers is the most pressing issue for small and medium sized businesses, despite wider concerns of overpopulation, a new survey suggests.
Almost half (45%) of SMEs identified the struggle to recruit staff as the top issue affecting their business.
More than 370 small and medium-sized businesses responded to the Chamber of SMEs survey earlier this month.
Malta should invest in upskilling the population and use immigration to solve the worker shortage, the Chamber said.
It should increase "efforts to attract and retain quality foreign talent including by implementing measures which are competitive compared to other Member States",
However it also acknowledged concerns of overpopulation, saying government should address this by investing in infrastructure and measures to promote a balanced demographic growth.
Finance minister Clyde Caruana has warned the country is on track to reach a population of 600,000 by 2027, up from the current 563,000.
A similar survey a few months ago showed small and medium-sized employers were facing the same problem.
Thursday’s SME barometer also showed that almost a quarter (24%) of smaller businesses felt they were facing unfair competition, and more than one in five (22%) said they were being impacted by inflation.
Other pressing concerns included late payments, lower client demand and a “skills mismatch”, among others.
Meanwhile, when asked about the problems facing the country, SMEs pointed to a lack of good governance as their top concern for the second quarter in a row, closely followed by corruption and – despite concerns of an employee shortage – overpopulation.
The survey paints a bleak picture of the outlook of SMEs, with almost four out of five (79%) saying they believe the country is moving in the wrong direction – a strongly prevailing opinion within the sector for the last four quarters.
Only around one-sixth (14%) of small and medium-sized businesses said they think the next year will be a good time to invest, while a third (33%) said it was not a good time and more than half (53%) said they were not sure.
Commenting on the results, SME Chamber President Paul Abela said it showed that a change in direction for the country was “imminently” needed.
In May, outgoing SME CEO Abigail Mamo warned the fallout from the Vitals' saga is tarnishing Malta's reputation and threatening prospective foreign investment while announcing results from last quarter’s survey showing good governance topping national concerns for the chamber.
Source: https://timesofmalta.com/article/worker-shortage-pressing-issue-small-businesses-survey-suggests.1095518