Majority of Maltese youths say they want to be their own boss

​Given a choice, 49% of young people in Malta aged 15-30 will choose self-employment over employment in contrast to 41% who prefer being employees

File photo
File photo

Given a choice, 49% of young people in Malta aged 15-30 will choose self-employment over employment in contrast to 41% who prefer being employees.

A Eurobarometer survey found that only 39% of young people in all EU member states would prefer self-employment to working as an employee, while 55% prefer being an employee to being self-employed.

In six Member States, more than half of respondents would prefer being self-employed: Cyprus (64%), Lithuania (59%), Croatia (57%), Portugal (57%), Greece (55%) and Hungary (52%). In Italy (48%) and Malta (49%), close to one in two respondents would prefer self-employment. In the remaining Member States, respondents with a preference for being an employee outnumber those who would opt for self-employment. The proportion selecting ‘employee status’ is overall the highest in Spain (74%), followed by Finland (68%).

In 18 Member States including Malta, the top-ranking reason to prefer self-employment is the freedom to choose time and place of work. The proportion selecting this reason is the highest in Estonia (71%), followed by Lithuania and Croatia (both 60%), while the lowest proportions are found in Belgium (43%) and Spain (41%).

This response is the joint highest-ranking reason in Malta (56%) and France (48%), alongside the independence of ‘being one’s own boss’. In the remaining nine Member States, the highest-ranking reason to prefer self-employment is the independence of ‘being one’s own boss’. This reason is most frequently selected in Luxembourg (62%) and Hungary (62%), while the lowest proportion is observed in Romania (39%).

Across all but one of the Member States, the highest-ranking reason for young people to prefer working as an employee is the security this brings in terms of regular, steady income. This reason is selected by between 35% of respondents in Romania and 58% in Malta. The exception is Germany where 48% prefer being employees because of job security.

In Malta the financial risks involved in starting up a business is the top-ranking barrier to youth entrepreneurship. This barrier is selected by 51% of respondents in Luxembourg and 53% in Malta, while the lowest proportion mentioning financial risks is observed in Lithuania (28%).

The survey also assessed the perception young people have of entrepreneurs. 51% of Maltese respondents described entrepreneurs as being ambitious while 38% described them as brave. In contrast 22% of Maltese young people think that entrepreneurs are only interested in profit while 16% think they take advantage of workers.

In nine countries, respondents are the most likely to reply that entrepreneurs are brave; this applies, for example, to Finland (45%), Denmark (43%) and Spain (39%). In ten countries, entrepreneurs are ambitious is the (joint) highest-ranking statement; this applies, for example, to Malta (51%), Ireland (48%) and Sweden (46%). In Greece (34%) and Cyprus (41%), the largest share of respondents reply that entrepreneurs only think about profit. In Lithuania, the largest share of respondents think that entrepreneurs are reckless (36%).

The survey indicates that young Maltese are the most likely in Europe to believe that businesses should have a social goal. 85% of Maltese respondents find it ‘very’ or ‘fairly important’ that a potential employer has defined social goals.

Respondents in Malta (83%) and Portugal (85%), joined by those in Italy (82%), are also the most likely to find it find it ‘very’ or ‘fairly important’ that the company has environmental goals. The proportion of ‘very important’ responses for this characteristic varies between 16% in Latvia and 38% in Malta.

Young people across all Member States also attach value to the fact that a potential employer involves employees in the decision-making in a participatory way, with the proportion of considering this aspect ‘very’ or ‘fairly important’ ranging from 70% in Czechia to 89% in Malta and Portugal.