The people behind Malta’s prosperity | Fabio Muscat

Fabio Muscat is CEO Association of Temping Agencies (AFTA)

This year’s budget reflects a country that has grown more confident in its ability to sustain prosperity. Measures aimed at rewarding employee loyalty, supporting families, and investing in digital transformation are all welcome steps in the right direction.

But it’s worth pausing to recognise one simple truth: None of this wealth could be generated, let alone distributed, without the tens of thousands of people who keep Malta’s essential industries running. And many of them are foreign workers.

Malta’s economy depends on its people—the cleaners who open our offices before dawn, the carers supporting our elderly, the drivers delivering goods, the construction workers building our homes, and the servers keeping our restaurants and hotels welcoming record numbers of tourists each month.

A large share of these workers are foreign nationals who have chosen Malta as their place to live and work. They are not a temporary fix or a burden on the system; they are an integral part of the country’s success story. Without them, many businesses would simply not function, and the wealth that fuels measures like tax cuts and family benefits would be much harder to create.

Recognising this contribution is not about politics. It’s about fairness, and about understanding how a small country with big ambitions sustains growth in a competitive global market.

The government’s focus on retention is well placed. Rewarding long-serving employees builds stability, trust, and loyalty in workplaces that rely on experience and continuity. But loyalty alone cannot solve labour shortages.

Our economy also needs flexibility, the ability to deploy skilled workers where they are needed most, sometimes for short periods, sometimes across multiple sectors. That’s where ethical temping and agency work play a vital role.

If retention schemes can be complemented by inclusion schemes that ensure temporary and foreign workers are supported, trained, and given pathways to grow, then Malta can achieve the best of both worlds—stability and adaptability.

The €100 million being invested in digitalisation and innovation is another wise move. Over the next decade, technology will change how many industries operate.

Some jobs, particularly routine and low-skilled ones, may eventually be performed by humanoid robots or artificial intelligence systems. That will not happen overnight, but it is no longer science fiction.

What this means is that our workforce must evolve. The demand for low-skilled labour may decrease, but the need for educated, skilled, and tech-aware workers will rise sharply.

That is where Malta has to act boldly. Education, retraining, and lifelong learning must become national priorities. Agencies like ours can help bridge that gap by connecting businesses with people who are ready to upskill and adapt.

Malta’s next challenge is not just to keep unemployment low, but to keep opportunity high. A fair and forward-looking workforce policy should recognise every worker’s contribution, whether local or foreign, temporary or permanent, human or soon-to-be robotic.

The aim should be simple—to make sure everyone who contributes to Malta’s prosperity, in any form, has a stake in its future.

The budget has set the tone. Now it is up to all of us — employers, agencies, workers, and government — to keep building a country where prosperity is not just created, but shared.