Only one in four Maltese workers have a female boss

Only 26% of Maltese workers said they had a woman as their immediate boss.

This emerges from a newly published Europe-wide survey by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, based on face-to-face interviews with more than 36,000 workers across 35 countries, including 1,000 from Malta.

Across the EU 27, 34% of workers reported having a female boss, while 65% reported having a male boss. Only 1% said their boss identified with another gender.

The data suggests that gender equality in top management roles has largely stagnated in Europe, with the share of workers reporting a female boss rising from 29% in 2010 to 33% in 2015, and remaining largely unchanged since.

Similarly, in Malta, the percentage of workers reporting having a female boss increased from 19% in 2010 to 26% in 2015. Following a spike in 2021, when the figure reached 36%. Since then, the percentage has since fallen back what it was in 2015. It is worth noting that a survey was conducted in 2021 during the pandemic, with telephone interviews replacing the usual face-to-face method.

In Malta, 74% of workers reported having a male boss, while none reported having a boss who is neither male or female. The countries reporting the highest share of female bosses were Sweden (51%), Finland (47%), Latvia (46%) and Norway (44%).

High work intensity in Malta

The survey also explored working conditions. Maltese workers were the most likely in the EU (54%) to say their main job frequently involves working to tight deadlines. Across the EU, only 34% reported the same, dropping to just 20% in the Netherlands.

Similarly, 50% of Maltese workers said their jobs frequently involved working at very high speeds, second only to Cyprus (54%).

The findings also show that 13% of Maltese workers work more than 48 hours a week, while 17% work more than 40.5 hours. Across the EU, 20% work more than 40.5 hours a week, and 12% exceed 48 hours. The Netherlands reported the lowest share, with just 12% working more than 40.5 hours a week.

Despite these pressures, 87% of Maltese workers said that having good working hours is “very important”—the highest share in the EU.

Making ends meet hard for many

When asked about household finances, only 19% of Maltese workers said making ends meet was “very easy,” while 38% said it was “easy.” A considerable 42% found it either difficult (33%) or very difficult (9%).

By comparison, just 28% of EU respondents reported difficulty making ends meet. In the Netherlands, 69% found it “very easy,” while only 8% said it was difficult. The highest financial strain was reported in Romania, Cyprus and Greece (53–59%).

The survey also found that 17% of Maltese workers frequently work in tiring and painful positions—lower than the EU average (22%) but still higher than the Netherlands (8%) and Finland (11%).

Furthermore, 8% of Maltese respondents reported discrimination at work, slightly higher than the EU average of 6%.

Strong ties with bosses

On enthusiasm at work, 66% of Maltese workers said they feel enthusiastic most of the time, while 11% said they feel enthusiastic all the time. Only 24% rarely or never feel enthusiastic. Across the EU, 30% rarely or never feel enthusiastic, however, 27% reported being always enthusiastic. The Netherlands topped this measure, with 39% of respondents always enthusiastic.

Despite these generally positive attitudes, Maltese workers reported fewer opportunities for employer-paid training. While 48% of EU workers attended training funded by their employer, the figure dropped to 35% in Malta. In Ireland, Austria and Slovakia, more than 60% reported receiving such training.

However, Maltese workers were more likely to have good personal relationships with their bosses. Some 80% said they feel comfortable discussing family and personal issues with their immediate superior, compared with 70% across the EU. Yet only 27% of Maltese respondents felt they were always treated fairly at work, compared with 49% across Europe.

Interestingly, around 4% of workers across the EU work alongside “cobots” (collaborative robots), with the percentage in Malta dropping to 1%.